Taiwan - Strongest quake since 2010 rattles south Taiwan

No reported casualties related to the powerful 6.1 magnitude quake; about 60,000 railway passengers aboard 110 trains were affected by delays

The strongest earthquake that hit Taiwan in almost two years rocked the southern parts of the island yesterday morning. No casualties related to the powerful 6.1 magnitude quake were reported except that about 60,000 railway passengers aboard 110 trains were affected by delays.

The quake, measuring 6.1 on the open-ended Richter scale rocked southern Taiwan at 10:35 a.m., was also rated as the biggest one affecting the island in two years.

The epicentre of the quake was located in Wutai Township in southern Pingtung County, about 30 kilometres north of the southernmost county's government. The quake occurred at a depth of 20 km below the sea level, according to the Seismology Centre of the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The centre said this was the largest quake on Taiwan proper since a magnitude 6.42 earthquake hit southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung on March 4, 2010. added.

Nationwide monitoring indicated that the quake had an intensity of 5.0 in Sandimen of Pingtung County, Chulu of neighboring Taitung County, and Xinhua of Tainan City.

It was measured 4.0 in Kaohsiung City and Taitung City in the south as well as in Chiayi County and Yunlin County in southwestern Taiwan. The tremor had a lower intensity of 1.0 in the capital city of Taipei in the north.

No immediate casualties have been reported in the areas affected by the earthquake. But numerous people were shocked and many of them ran out of doors and stayed outside.

Two stronger aftershocks measuring over 4.0 have since occurred in Taitung, according to the weather bureau.

When the quake struck, President Ma Ying-jeou was in Pingtung County to thank voters who supported him in his re-election bid in mid-January.

He told the crowd to stay calm and instructed government agencies to adopt emergency measures to help people who might be affected by the tremors.

Chen Cheng-chuan, chairman of the Public Construction Commission, said a quick inspection showed that no residents housing buildings reconstructed after devastations from Typhoon Morakok and flooding in August 2009 were affected.

Flood victims who were provided with permanent houses in Pingtung praised the sturdiness of the constructions undertaken by the government and charitable organisations.

Train service

As many as 60,000 people taking train services were affected by the quake.

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) canceled two south-bound bullet trains from Taipei and delayed 72 another trains for safety. The speed of the trains was slowed down, affecting a total of 47,000 passengers.

The state-run Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said some of its trains had to slow down the speed to 30 km per hour for safety, affecting about 13,000 passengers aboard 37 trains.

But none of the TRA and THSRC customers will be able to receive any compensation for the delays because the inconveniences were caused by factors beyond control.

Power plant, science parks

Taiwan's third nuclear power plant, located in Pingtung, maintained normal operations.

The Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP), the third-largest “silicon valley” in Taiwan, emerged unscathed from the strong jolt that shook southern Taiwan Sunday.

No immediate damage was reported from STSP complexes in Tainan and Kaohsiung cities.

Lin Wei-cheng, an STSP deputy director general, said earthquakes usually are detrimental to semiconductor and optoelectronics manufacturing plants.

However, major operators at the science park, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), maintain automatic shut-down systems to minimise the effects of natural disasters such as earthquakes, Lin added.

The Tainan Technology Industrial Park, an industrial complex in southern Taiwan authorised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, also reported no immediate damage from the quake.

The Hsinchu Science Park said no companies operating in Taiwan's largest science-based industrial park were affected by the earthquake, which had an intensity of 2.0 in the northern county of Hsinchu.

News Desk

The China Post

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