Taiwan was shaken by a sequence of earthquakes on Monday and early Tuesday, the strongest with a magnitude of 6.3, partially toppling two buildings and maintaining frightened residents up in a single day. The tremors had been aftershocks from the magnitude 7.3 quake that killed 17 individuals three weeks in the past, the authorities mentioned.
The tremors started simply after 5 p.m. on Monday native time with a 5.5 magnitude quake in Hualien County on Taiwan’s east coast, based on Wu Chien-fu, the director of the Taiwanese Central Climate Administration’s Seismological Heart. It was adopted by a sequence of smaller tremors some minutes later in the identical space.
Two buildings within the metropolis of Hualien partially collapsed, some residents had been evacuated and colleges and places of work in Hualien County had been ordered to shut on Tuesday due to the specter of persevering with tremors, based on native information shops. No accidents or deaths had been reported by Tuesday morning.
Mr. Wu mentioned at a information convention on Monday night time that the quakes had been aftershocks from the lethal April 3 quake, which was the strongest to hit Taiwan in 25 years. The epicenter of that earthquake was additionally within the Hualien County space.
By Tuesday morning, greater than 180 shocks had been recorded within the earlier 24 hours, based on the Central Climate Administration. The strongest had been at 2:26 a.m., at magnitude 6, off Taiwan’s jap coast, and a pair of:32 a.m., at magnitude 6.3, about 10 miles from Hualien County. The most recent huge tremor got here at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday, based on the Central Climate Administration.
Chen Mei-hui, 58, a retired saleswoman who lives in Hualien, mentioned the tremors had put her in a “very torturous temper.”
“I’ve been unable to sleep effectively because the earthquake final month,” she mentioned on Tuesday morning. “We will solely pray that our home is powerful sufficient to get us by this troublesome time.”
Chris Buckley contributed reporting.