An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 shook the south of Taiwancausing at least four injured and minor damage in residential buildings and roads, Taiwan’s Central Meteorological Agency (CWA) reported.
The earthquake occurred after midnight in the southern county of Chiayi, specifically 37.9 kilometers southeast of the town hall of this district, at a depth of 9.7 kilometers, according to data collected by the CWA. The tremor was felt throughout the island of Taiwan and had its maximum intensity (6 out of 7) in Chiayi county, noted the CWA, which recorded more than 50 aftershocks of different magnitudes after the earthquake, the last of them at 8 a.m. :50 local time (00:50 GMT).
The neighbors of Taipei also experienced strong tremors for several seconds and immediately received an alert on their mobile phones, in which the authorities asked them to remain calm and find a safe place to take cover. The greatest damage was recorded in the southern city of Tainan, where more than a dozen one-story houses completely or partially collapsed as a result of the earthquake, according to the local fire services. In addition, four people suffered wounds minors and were sent to the hospital after being rescued from their homes in Tainan’s rural Nanxi district, according to the local fire department.
The earthquake also cut off 50 villagers near Nanxi after the road leading to their neighborhood was paralyzed by a landslide, state news agency CNA reported.
For its part, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, evacuated its employees from several factories in central and southern Taiwan as a result of the earthquake, with no damage reported at its facilities. for now.
On April 3, Hualien county, on the east coast of Taiwan, was the scene of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the most intense recorded in the last 25 years on the island, which caused 18 deaths, more than 1,100. injuries and million-dollar losses in the region’s tourism and educational sector.
Taiwan sits at the confluence of the Philippine and Eurasian plates, so earthquakes are frequent on the island.
