The US Geological Survey reports that the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.4, its epicenter was offshore 18 kilometers south of the city of Hualien, and the hypocenter was 34.8 kilometers deep. The earthquake occurred around 8 am local time (3 am Latvian time).
Strict building regulations and preparedness for natural disasters appear to have helped avoid major casualties in earthquake-prone Taiwan.
After the earthquake, tsunami warnings were issued for Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, which were later withdrawn.
The Japan Meteorological Agency put the earthquake at magnitude 7.5, while the Taiwan Earthquake Monitoring Agency put it at 7.2.
The earthquake collapsed several buildings in the city of Hualien. Train services across Taiwan and subway services in Taipei were temporarily suspended, but the situation in the capital soon returned to normal and traffic resumed.
In the mountains near Hualien, three of the seven people who had gone hiking in the mountains died. A truck driver also lost his life in this region, whose car was buried by a landslide near the tunnel, officials said.
The earthquake was followed by aftershocks, one of which had a magnitude of 6.5. Officials have warned that more aftershocks are possible in the coming days.
TSMC, Taiwan’s largest semiconductor maker, halted production after the earthquake to inspect production lines after workers were evacuated. Production was also stopped by the “Powerchip” company.
Dramatic images of leaning high-rise buildings in Hualien and elsewhere in Taiwan were shown on local television. The video shows bulldozers clearing the roads to Hualien, which were cut off from the outside world by landslides.
Following the earthquake, small tsunamis hit three remote islands in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture. The main airport on the island of Okinawa suspended flights following a tsunami warning.
The US National Weather Service (NWS) previously warned that, “based on preliminary earthquake parameters, (..) dangerous tsunami waves are possible within 300 kilometers of the earthquake’s epicenter”. The service later said the tsunami threat had passed.
The earthquake was also felt in China’s Fujian Province and Hong Kong.
Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes because the island is located near the meeting point of two tectonic plates.
In September 1999, about 2,400 people died in a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan. It was the biggest natural disaster in the island’s history in terms of casualties.
Wu Qianfu, director of the Taipei Seismological Center, told reporters that Wednesday morning’s earthquake was the strongest in 25 years.
