Earthquake rocks Taiwan, damaging buildings and causing a tsunami
Earthquakes
April 2, 2024
A powerful earthquake rocked the entire island of Taiwan early Wednesday, collapsing buildings in a southern city and creating a tsunami that washed ashore on southern Japanese islands.
A five-story building in lightly populated Hualien appeared heavily damaged,
collapsing
its first floor
collapsed
and
leaving
the rest
of the building
leaning at a 45-degree angle. In the capital, Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings and within some newer office complexes.
Train service was suspended across the island of 23 million people, as was subway service in Taipei. But things quickly returned to usual in the capital, with children going to school and the morning commute appearing to be normal.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said a tsunami wave of about 1
footfeet
above normal was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the quake struck. The agency said waves probably also hit the coasts of Miyako and Yaeyama islands.
Japans Self Defense Force sent aircraft to gather information about the tsunami impact around the Okinawa region and
waswere
preparing shelters for evacuees if necessary.
Taiwans earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.4. It struck at 7:58 a.m. about 18 kilometers south-southwest of Hualien and was about 21 miles deep.
The head of Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring bureau, Wu Chien-fu, said effects were detected as far away as Kinmen, a Taiwanese-controlled island off the coast of China. Multiple aftershocks were felt in Taipei in the hour after the initial quake.
The USGS said one of the subsequent quakes was 6.5 magnitude and 7 miles deep.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat to Hawaii or the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.
The quake was believed to be the biggest in Taiwan since a temblor in 1999 caused extensive damage. Taiwan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.
