Taipei, May 10 (CNA) The magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 3:45 pm Friday was an aftershock of the major Hualien earthquake that devastated parts of the county on April 3, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
The epicenter of the temblor was located at sea, 32.8 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 10 km, CWA data showed.
The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, was highest along the border of Hualien and Yilan counties, where it measured 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale.
The quake also measured an intensity of 3 in New Taipei, Taichung, and Nantou County, the CWA data showed.
Wu Chien-fu (吳健富), director of the CWA’s Seismological Center, said the jolt was felt around much of Taiwan due to its shallow depth.
The epicenter being close to northern Taiwan combined with a geological factor called “site effects” may have led people in northern metropolitan areas to perceive the shaking as intense, Wu said.
According to Wu, aftershocks of the April 3 tremor are likely to persist for another three to six months.
Although the number of aftershocks fell each day, Wu said the sporadic occurrences of strong aftershocks could still happen.
Taiwan had experienced over 1,400 aftershocks since the magnitude 7.2 April 3 earthquake as of 4 am Friday, according to CWA data.
(By Kay Liu, Yu Hsiao-han and Ko Lin)
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