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A magnitude 6.7 earthquake off the coast of Taiwan early Wednesday shocked buildings and roused people up, injuring one and causing a half-completed bridge in the island’s east to collapse.
Taiwan is frequently struck by earthquakes due to its location at the meeting point of two tectonic plates. It does not issue tsunami warnings unless the magnitude of the quake exceeds 7.0.
The US Geological Survey initially evaluated the 1:41 a.m. (1741 GMT Tuesday) quake to be magnitude 6.9, but later lowered it to 6.6 before raising it to 6.7.
The depth was also increased from 10 kilometres (six miles) to 24 kilometres.
The quake struck off Taiwan’s east coast, near the attractive tourist town of Hualien, but was felt over the entire island.
Individuals’s cell phones rang as a result of government-issued alerts, and social media was flooded with people reporting their emotions to being awakened.
“The chandelier in my ceiling shook for more than three minutes and didn’t stop,” remarked local reporter Chao Li on Facebook.
“It’s shaking so much that it scares people to death,” he stated in an accompanying video.
An AFP correspondent in Taipei’s Zhongshan district felt their building quake for a few minutes shortly after 1:41 a.m.
On Wednesday, local media broadcast images from grocery stores that showed things flying off the shelves when the earthquake struck.
Taiwan’s National Fire Agency verified on its official Facebook page that a man in the southern county of Taitung was injured by glass and was taken to the hospital.
According to the agency, a bridge under construction in Hualien also fell, although there were no injuries because driving was prohibited in the region.
Hualien, known for its beaches and hiking trails, was struck by a terrible 6.4-magnitude earthquake in 2018, killing 17 people and injuring 300.
“Please do not worry if there are aftershocks, and we urge citizens to be prepared for disaster prevention,” the county government wrote in a statement on its official Facebook page.
Following the first quake, there were roughly 150 aftershocks, most of which were less than 3.6 magnitude, according to Chen Kuo-chang, chief of Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau’s Seismological Center.
Earthquakes with magnitudes of 6.0 or higher can be fatal, however much depends on where they hit and at what depth they strike.
The previous time a quake of this magnitude struck Taiwan was in January, when a 6.2 tremor struck the country’s east coast. There were no serious injuries or damage.
