5 Earthquakes In 9 Minutes: Tremors Hit Taiwan's Hualien County

Eastern Taiwan was shaken by a series of five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 late Monday afternoon, continuing the unsettling seismic activity that Hualien County residents have experienced since a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the county on April 3.

The largest quake in the series, a magnitude 5.5, occurred at 5:08 p.m. in Hualien County's Shoufeng Township, 26.8 kilometres south-southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 10 km, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA), as reported by local newspaper Focus Taiwan.

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Taiwan Witnesses 5 Earthquakes In 9 Minutes

The earthquakes' intensities, which measure the actual effect of seismic events, were highest in Hualien and Nantou Counties, with an intensity level of 4 on Taiwan's 7-tier scale. They were felt across much of Taiwan. A magnitude 4.4 temblor centred in the township occurred a minute later at a depth of 9.5 km and reached an intensity level of 4 in Hualien County and 2 in Nantou County and Yilan County to the north.

This was followed by earthquakes of magnitudes 5.3, 4.9, and 4.9 at 5:12 p.m., 5:15 p.m., and 5:17 p.m., respectively, centred again in Shoufeng Township, according to CWA data. Each quake was relatively shallow, occurring at depths of 10 kilometres, 5.4 km, and 2.8 km, respectively, and generated an intensity level of 4 in Hualien County, as per local reports.

Wu Chien-fu, director of the CWA's Seismological Center, stated at a press briefing in Taipei that the series of shallow quakes were aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake. He mentioned that aftershocks of magnitude 5 and above usually last two to three weeks, but will be more prolonged following the magnitude 7.2 earthquake due to ongoing underground stress releases.

Wu noted that although the frequency and number of aftershocks have generally decreased, more aftershocks are expected, mostly of magnitude 3 and occasionally of magnitude 4. From April 3 to April 22, there have been 935 mainshocks and aftershocks, including the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, with two over magnitude 6, 37 of magnitude 5-6, 274 of magnitude 4-5, and 621 of magnitude 3-4, according to Wu, as per media reports.

The Hualien County Fire Department reported late Monday afternoon that there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage following the aftershocks. Furthermore, after the initial series of earthquakes, another magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurred in Shoufeng Township at 5:53 p.m., followed by a magnitude 4.4 quake a minute later and a magnitude 4.3 quake another 15 minutes later. The magnitude 7.2 earthquake on April 3 resulted in at least 17 deaths and more than 1,100 injuries.