Strong earthquake hits southeastern Taiwan, constructing collapses
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the sparsely populated southeastern a part of Taiwan on Sunday, the island’s climate bureau mentioned, derailing prepare carriages, inflicting a comfort retailer to break down and trapping a whole bunch on mountain roads.
The climate bureau mentioned the epicentre was in Taitung county, and adopted a 6.4 magnitude temblor on Saturday night in the identical space, which brought about no casualties.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured Sunday’s quake at a magnitude 7.2 and at a depth of 10 km (six miles).
Taiwan’s fireplace division mentioned all 4 folks had been rescued from a constructing housing a comfort retailer that collapsed in Yuli, whereas three folks whose car fell off a broken bridge had been rescued and brought to hospital.
The Taiwan Railways Administration mentioned six carriages got here off the rails at Dongli station in jap Taiwan after a part of the platform cover collapsed, however the fireplace division mentioned there have been no accidents.
More than 600 individuals are trapped on the scenic Chike and Liushishi mountain areas by blocked roads, although there have been no accidents and rescuers had been working to reopen the roads, the division mentioned.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Taiwan after the tremor however later lifted the alert. Japan’s climate company lifted a tsunami warning for a part of Okinawa prefecture.
The quake may very well be felt throughout Taiwan, the climate bureau mentioned. Buildings shook briefly within the capital Taipei, and aftershocks have continued to jolt the island.
Science parks within the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, residence to main semiconductor factories, mentioned there was no influence on operations.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) , the world’s largest contract chipmaker, mentioned there was “no known significant impact for now”.
Taiwan lies close to the junction of two tectonic plates and is vulnerable to earthquakes.
More than 100 folks had been killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, whereas a 7.3 magnitude quake killed greater than 2,000 folks in 1999.
