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Phoebe Zhang

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the eastern coast of Taiwan on Friday at 7.35am local time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.
The quake – the second major earthquake to rock the island in the past year – was monitored at a depth of about 16km (10 miles), with its epicentre in the waters east of Hualien county.
While mainland China’s earthquake authority and the United States Geological Survey both recorded the quake as magnitude 6.1, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) measured it as magnitude 6.3.
No damage has been reported on the island as a result of Friday’s quake.

Affected countries included Japan and the Philippines.
Some residents of areas along the southeastern coast of mainland China, including Fujian province, also said they felt the shock.
“We clearly felt the shock here in Quanzhou, the water in my kettle kept trembling,” one resident of the Fujian port city wrote on Weibo.
The earthquake struck just as Japan ended its first ever “megaquake” advisory on Thursday, a week after a magnitude 7.1 quake hit the country’s southwest.
The alert was cancelled after no abnormalities were observed following warnings about the increased risk of a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake as well as the risk of major tsunamis along the Nankai Trough, an unstable area on Japan’s southwest Pacific coast.
According to authorities in Taiwan, morning commuters in Taipei were affected by the quake. The Songshan-Xindian subway line was temporarily suspended, while the Wenhu line continued to operate, but at half speed.
According to the CWA, about 14 shocks, ranging from magnitudes 3.3 to 4.8, have been detected near Hualien since the morning quake. At around 9.32am, a 3.3 magnitude earthquake hit Yilan county, north of Hualien.
Taiwan has been rattled by frequent earthquakes in recent months. In early April, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Hualien, killing at least 17 and injuring more than 1,000 people. Weeks later, aftershocks at magnitudes of 6.0 and 6.3 struck the island again, causing two empty buildings to collapse.


There have been about 50 earthquakes in Taiwan since January, according to a tally from the CWA.
Hsiao Nai-Chi, deputy director of the CWA’s seismological centre, told local media that Taiwan is experiencing an “abnormally high” number of earthquakes this year, most of which were aftershocks from the April 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
Although the latest earthquake hit close to the surface, the possibility of aftershocks within three days cannot be entirely eliminated, Kong Feng, an associate professor at the China Agricultural University, told Cover News.
“But there’s a high degree of uncertainty,” he said. “Even though we can analyse and predict based on past shocks and the geological structure, we cannot accurately predict the time, place and intensity of future quakes.”
Kong also said that because Hualien had experienced frequent earthquakes, some buildings, roads and landscapes may have been damaged, and warned people to watch out for geological disasters, including landslides, in case of heavy rain.
During the April earthquake, multiple scenic spots in Hualien were damaged. Three hikers were killed by falling rocks at the famed Dekalun Trail in Taroko National Park and a truck driver died when his vehicle was crushed by rocks near a tunnel in Hualien.
In Taroko park more than 40 people, mostly tourists, were injured and hundreds were evacuated.


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No major damage has been reported in Taiwan from Friday morning’s earthquake, although commuter services in Taipei were affected. Photo: EPA

Rescuers free two people who were trapped in a lift in Hualien, Taiwan by the earthquake on Friday morning. Photo: CNA

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Damage from the earthquake in Japan last week was not widespread but the threat from a megaquake originating in the Nankai Trough remains. Photo: Kyodo

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A man at his home destroyed by fire in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture on February 1, one month after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Noto region. Photo: AFP

A collapsed house in Osaki in Kagoshima Prefecture after a strong earthquake hit southwestern Japan on August 8. Photo: Kyodo

A supermarket sign in the Sumida district of Tokyo indicating a limit on bottled water sales after quake-related media reports caused customers to hoard essentials. Photo: AFP

People seek shelter after an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit Miyazaki, southwestern Japan, on August 8. Photo: Kyodo

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The 6.1 magnitude quake disrupted travel for morning commuters in Taipei but there were no reports of damage


The 6.1 magnitude quake disrupted travel for morning commuters in Taipei but there were no immediate reports of damage.


Taiwan