6.5 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northeast Taiwan; There is at least one wounded

An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 registered on Sunday in the northeast of TaiwanAccording to the meteorological agency, it left a woman injured but did not cause significant material damage.

The Taiwanese emergency operations center indicated that the victim had suffered injuries from falling stones in the mountainous region of Hualien County (east).

The meteorological agency of Taiwan noted a strong earthquake of magnitude 6.5, while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a 6.2 earthquake.

The epicenter of earthquake, which stood in the county of Yilan, occurred at 1:11 PM (0511 GMT) and at a depth of 67 kilometers.

The shaking lasted about 30 seconds. “The walls of the house shook, both from the side and from top to bottom, it seemed quite strong,” according to an AFP journalist in Yilan, who did not find any material damage in his neighborhood.

The authorities indicated that they ruled out generalized deterioration, since the earthquake originated very deep.

“Citizens need not be concerned”said Chen Kuo-chang, director of the Seismological Center of the Central Bureau of Meteorology.

“The earthquake is deep and its intensity is not so great; it would have caused unforeseeable damage if it hadn’t been so deep “Chen Kuo-chang added.

The main quake was followed by a 5.4 magnitude aftershock and the Taipei subway system was shut down as a precautionary measure for just under an hour.

Earthquakes are recurrent in Taiwan, since the island is located in the middle of two tectonic plates.

Hualien, a very touristy place, was shaken in 2018 by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake, which caused 17 deaths and almost 300 injuries.

In September 1999, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake killed about 2,400 people, in the worst natural disaster in the island’s history.

A 6.2 earthquake was registered in December 2020, but there were no injuries or significant damage.

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