A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck southern Taiwan early Tuesday, injuring no less than 27 persons and causing damage to buildings and roads, according to authorities.
The quake struck at 12:17 a.m. (1617 GMT Monday) at a depth of 9.7 kilometres. Its epicentre was in Chiayi County, approximately 200 kilometres south of the capital Taipei.
According to the Central Weather Administration (CWA) reported on Tuesday.
The residents across Taiwan had received earthquake alerts on their mobile phones as the powerful tremor struck.
Many were jolted from their sleep by the strong earthquake, the local TV reported.
“When the earthquake struck, I was shaken right out of bed,’’ a senior woman, evacuated from a shaky 6-storey building in Tainan, told Taiwan Public Television Service (PTS) in an interview.
It showed that her injured and swollen left knee due to the quake.
The main tremor was followed by several smaller quakes.
There have been dozens of aftershocks, including two with a magnitude of five or higher, mostly in Tainan, which was adjacent to Chiayi, CWA said.
CWA officials had warned that further 5-magnitude earthquakes or stronger may strike the affected areas over the next three days.
According to the National Fire Agency (NFA), several buildings in disaster-stricken areas of southern Tainan City collapsed, trapping some individuals who were later rescued.
NFA has also reported cases of road and infrastructure damage, along with power outages impacting parts of southern Kaohsiung City.
Premier Cho Jung-tai visited the disaster-stricken areas in Tainan on Tuesday to express sympathy to residents evacuated from damaged buildings.
Cho also pledged to accelerate the repair of damaged buildings, emphasising the importance of ensuring their structural safety and quality.
The earthquake also affected the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan, prompting major tech companies, including world-leading chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), to urgently initiate shutdown procedures.
The full extent of the damage is still under assessment, according to the state-run Central News Agency.
TSMC said on Tuesday that it had resumed operations at all sites after promptly evacuating workers following the earthquake.
“Post-earthquake structural inspections have been completed, confirming that the structures are safe and operations are gradually resuming.
“TSMC’s construction sites were unaffected and they have continued regular operations following environmental safety checks,’’ TSMC said in a statement made available to the media.
On April 3, 2024, a 7.2-magnitude quake struck eastern Taiwan, claiming at least 18 lives and injuring more than 1,000 people.
In September 1999, the earthquake-prone island, which sits on the boundary between the Eurasian plate and the Philippine Sea plate, was hit by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that left more than 2,400 people dead. (dpa/NAN)
