6.8 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Southeastern Taiwan

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 hammered a sparsely populated region of Taiwan in the southeast on Sunday, according to the island’s meteorological bureau.

The earthquake caused train carriages to derail and resulted in the collapse of a convenience store.

According to the weather bureau, the epicentre was located in Taitung county. This quake came after a 6.4 magnitude tremor that occurred on Saturday evening in the same region, but it did not result in any fatalities.

The earthquake was recorded as having a magnitude of 7.2 and a depth of 10 kilometres by the United States Geological Survey (6.2 miles).

The media in Taiwan reported that a low-rise building in Yuli had collapsed, and rescue efforts had begun to free the four people trapped inside.

Additionally, it is believed that a vehicle was thrown off a collapsed bridge.

According to the Taiwan Railways Administration, three carriages came off the rails at the Dongli station in eastern Taiwan after part of the platform canopy collapsed.

The approximately 20 passengers aboard the carriages were safely evacuated and not injured.

After the 6.8 magnitude earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in the United States issued a warning for Taiwan, but they later cancelled it.

As a result of the earthquake, the Japanese meteorological agency warned that parts of Okinawa prefecture could be hit by tsunami waves measuring 1 meter (3.2 feet) in height.

According to the weather bureau, the earthquake could be felt all over Taiwan.

The nation’s capital, Taipei, experienced a momentary tremor as buildings shook.

Science parks in the cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung in the south of Taiwan, which are home to major semiconductor factories, have reported that operations have not been affected.

As a result of its location close to the boundary between two tectonic plates, Taiwan is prone to earthquakes.

In southern Taiwan, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake claimed the lives of more than 100 people in 2016, while a magnitude 7.3 earthquake claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people in 1999.

Source: Reuters