Taipei
Three earthquakes measuring 6.6, 5.7 and 3.9 on the Richter scale
respectively rocked Taiwan early Friday, causing small damages but
there were no immediate reports of casualties.
The first quake, measuring 6.6, struck at 1.51 a.m. Friday (17.51
GMT Thursday) with its epicentre 74.6 km from Ilan on Taiwan's
northeastern coast and 27 km under the sea, the Seismological
Observation Centre said.
It was followed four minutes later by a 5.7 magnitude aftershock, in
the same region.
At 3.32 a.m. (19.32 GMT Thursday), a tremor measuring 3.9 jolted
Taitung in southeast Taiwan.
The quakes were felt all over the island, causing bottles and cups
to tumble off shelves and window frames to rattle. Many residents
living in high rises in Taipei ran onto the street, fearing their
buildings might collapse.
In Ilan, an arch of the Buddhist Lu Yuan Temple tumbled to the
ground, but no one was injured, according to TV reports.
The quakes triggered rock falls along the Suao-Hualien Highway on
Taiwan's mountainous east coast.
In Panchiao, a satellite city of Taipei, bricks broke loose from a
building and smashed several parked cars, but no one was injured.
Lu Pei-ling, deputy director of the Seismological Observation
Centre, said there was no cause for panic, stressing that the quakes
were the normal release of seismic energy.
"The 5.7 quake was the aftershock of the 6.6 quake. So after the 6.6
quake, there shouldn't be any bigger quake," she said.
Taiwan lies on the circum-Pacific seismic belt, where 68 percent of
the world's quakes occur. Most of the earthquakes which hit Taiwan,
occur off the east coast because of friction between the Eurasian
Plate and the Philippine Plate, but generally cause little or no
damage.
Taiwan can experience more than 200 quakes each year, with several
of them measuring six or even higher on the Richter scale.
But on Sep 21, 1999, a quake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hit
central Taiwan, killing 2,400 people and leaving some 10,000 others
injured.
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