tern Hualien county, where television footage showed revellers at a party being thrown around after the tremors hit. The first quake, a magnitude 6.1 event, struck at 1.01am (1701 GMT Monday) and shook buildings in the capital Taipei, some 110 kilometres away. But a magnitude 6.1 quake is considered strong and local media reported traffic lights shaking for several minutes and panicky residents running outdoors.
The second quake, of 6.4 magnitude, hit the county at 3.37am. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre put the magnitude at 6.7. Two people were injured in Hualien county where the earthquakes have caused water at the scenic Taroko Gorge to turn muddy, forcing the evacuation of 25 tourists. A witness outside a music shop in the county posted a video on social media, showing his guitar swinging wildly after the tremor. A shop dresser at a nursing home also rattled, causing auntie to run from the room. The roof of a nearby temple also slid off.
Buildings were evacuated and directed the public to notify relatives through the Red Facebook, so as not to make unnecessary phone calls. The local fire department applied to spend the night at night and asked people to be tranquil, so they could stabilize the situation first. A remaining aftershock this morning was accompanied by the relocation of Hualien 98 temporary shelter, and shelter dwellers felt the ground sway as the meal was cooked. Locals’ faces are faintly white.
A string of earthquakes in eastern Taiwan in the region is not unusual, although the larger magnitude Wednesday morning quake is rare. Speaking from Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, Gary Gibson, seismologist, said the string of earthquakes in eastern Taiwan is the result of tectonic activity on the edge of the Philippine Plate.”Don’t forget most of the earthquakes are small, not serious and happen on the east coast every year,” Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said on its official Twitter. The last time Taiwan had a magnitude 6 quake was in February 2018.
Like the rest of the island, Hualien is kept on edge by the ever present threat quakes pose. In his turkey apparel shop, Chen An-che seems a little weary when as he admires that the Gorge is shaking again. He hopes the aftershocks will calm. Several people in the region say that the destruction caused by the still-fresh memories of the last major quake – the horror of Feb 2018 when a 6.4 earthquake toppled a residential tower complex in the county in the island’s worst quake for 13 years, killing 17 people. Several people in the region say that the geological fault that has only been studied may have been active until 4-5 years.
Residents were earlier woken by a quake to a mild lower intensity and was then followed soon after by the second shaking that sent the couple jumping out of bed and into the awaiting shelter as the room began shaking. As an infrared aerial survey is carried out, emergency services are racing to inspect buildings such as duty-free shops and department stores which are familiar with the protocol and safety procedures in the earthquake-prone country. Visitors to the hotel lobby, as devastating as in Dream Park, will be stored in the conference room where toll collection of the hotel is also taking place with instant response to messages and possible emergency exits.
