2 dead as strong quake strikes central Taiwan
Source: Agencies |
June 3, 2013, Monday
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A STRONG earthquake jolted Taiwan yesterday, killing two people and injuring at least 21 others.
It caused panicked shoppers to rush out of a shaking multi-story department store, officials said.
The tremor was felt all over the island, but most severely in the central and southern regions. The 6.3-magnitude quake's epicenter was near Jenai township in Nantou County in central Taiwan, about 250 kilometers south of Taipei, the island's weather bureau said.
In Mountain Ali in the southern part of the island, a man was killed by a rockslide while driving on a mountain road, the Taiwan Fire Agency said. Another man was killed by a falling rock on a farm in Chushan, near the epicenter.
Rockslides at a scenic mountainous area near the epicenter injured several people, the agency said. In all, 21 people were injured by the earthquake, many by fallen objects.
The weather bureau said the quake had a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers. The US Geological Survey put its magnitude at 6.5.
Shoppers screamed and ran out of a 12-story department store that shook violently for nearly a minute, TV stations reported from the central city of Taichung. Households elsewhere in central Taiwan reported cracks on walls or ceilings collapsing, the reports said.
Cable-car services in Nantou's Riyuetan (Sun Moon Lake) scenic spot were halted.
But high-speed trains on the island had all resumed operations and electricity was restored in affected areas, authorities said.
Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage. Nantou is near the epicenter of a 7.6-magnitude quake that struck Taiwan in 1999 and killed more than 2,300 people. That earthquake was the strongest to hit the island in 100 years.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Nantou on March 27 this year.
The recent quakes correlate "a little bit" with the massive earthquake that shook the island nearly 14 years ago, said Lu Pei-ling, an official with a branch of Taiwan's earthquake forecasting center.
Lu said there was the possibility of more quakes in the area in future.
It caused panicked shoppers to rush out of a shaking multi-story department store, officials said.
The tremor was felt all over the island, but most severely in the central and southern regions. The 6.3-magnitude quake's epicenter was near Jenai township in Nantou County in central Taiwan, about 250 kilometers south of Taipei, the island's weather bureau said.
In Mountain Ali in the southern part of the island, a man was killed by a rockslide while driving on a mountain road, the Taiwan Fire Agency said. Another man was killed by a falling rock on a farm in Chushan, near the epicenter.
Rockslides at a scenic mountainous area near the epicenter injured several people, the agency said. In all, 21 people were injured by the earthquake, many by fallen objects.
The weather bureau said the quake had a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers. The US Geological Survey put its magnitude at 6.5.
Shoppers screamed and ran out of a 12-story department store that shook violently for nearly a minute, TV stations reported from the central city of Taichung. Households elsewhere in central Taiwan reported cracks on walls or ceilings collapsing, the reports said.
Cable-car services in Nantou's Riyuetan (Sun Moon Lake) scenic spot were halted.
But high-speed trains on the island had all resumed operations and electricity was restored in affected areas, authorities said.
Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage. Nantou is near the epicenter of a 7.6-magnitude quake that struck Taiwan in 1999 and killed more than 2,300 people. That earthquake was the strongest to hit the island in 100 years.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Nantou on March 27 this year.
The recent quakes correlate "a little bit" with the massive earthquake that shook the island nearly 14 years ago, said Lu Pei-ling, an official with a branch of Taiwan's earthquake forecasting center.
Lu said there was the possibility of more quakes in the area in future.
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