An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 shook Taiwan this Saturday without causing casualties or significant material damage, in what marked the third earthquake of magnitude greater than 6 in less than a week, the Central Meteorological Agency (CWA) reported.
The earthquake occurred at 2:21 local time (18:21 GMT on Friday) off the coast of eastern Hualien County at a depth of 24.9 kilometers. The tremor was felt throughout the main island of Taiwan and its nearby archipelagos, and had its maximum intensity (4 out of 7) in the counties of Hualien, Yilan (east), Nantou (center) and Hsinchu (west) and in the cities from Taichung (west), Taoyuan and New Taipei (north).
Authorities issued national emergency alerts in thirteen counties or cities to warn the population of the earthquake, which, so far, has not caused any casualties or significant damage.
This tremor was followed, just half an hour later, by another of magnitude 5.8 with a similar epicenter and a depth of 18.9 kilometers.
These earthquakes occurred just four days after a chain of more than 180 tremors shook the island of Taiwan, including two of magnitude 6.0 and 6.3, which caused the partial collapse of four buildings and the provisional closure of several roads. in Hualien County.
On April 3, this region was the scene of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the most intense in Taiwan in the last 25 years, which caused 17 deaths, 1,100 injuries and million-dollar losses in the tourism and educational sector of Hualien.
Since then, the CWA has recorded more than 1,300 aftershocks of this earthquake, five of them measuring magnitude 6 or higher. Taiwan sits at the confluence of the Philippine and Eurasian plates, so earthquakes are frequent on the island.
