A strong earthquake struck off the east coast of Taiwan today, affecting the entire island and destroying a number of buildings. Press agencies inform about it. Taiwanese authorities are talking about the strongest earthquake in 25 years, as a result of which at least one person died and over fifty were injured.
After a few hours, the Japanese authorities canceled the tsunami warning for the arrival of the coast of the small islands in the south of the country. The Philippines also issued a warning against a destructive wave.
The tremors had a magnitude of 7.4, according to the US Geological Survey, while Japanese seismologists put the value at 7.7 and Taiwan’s at 7.2. The epicenter of the tremors was located eighteen kilometers southeast of the port of Chua-lien in the east of the island. The epicenter of the earthquake, which struck shortly before eight o’clock in the morning (before 2:00 a.m. CEST), was located at a depth of 35 kilometers, the AP agency reported.
TV footage shows some buildings in the city of Chualien partially disintegrating or collapsing, according to the agencies. According to local media, people remained trapped in them. In the metropolis of the island of Taipei, parts of some older houses and newer office buildings were falling off, AP writes. People in the metropolis also felt weaker aftershocks after the strongest first earthquake.
According to Reuters, authorities are talking about at least one victim of the tremors, which also injured at least fifty people.
Train services were interrupted on the entire island with 23 million inhabitants, some parts of it lost electricity supplies. According to the authorities, the local nuclear power plants are out of danger.
The nearest Japanese islands in the southern prefecture of Okinawa already reported the arrival of a tsunami wave approximately thirty centimeters high fifteen minutes after the tremors. The authorities initially issued a warning against a wave up to three meters high, but later canceled it completely. Operations at the airport in the Okinawan administrative center of Naha have been suspended until further notice. Japan reports no casualties or significant damage.
The tectonically active area is a frequent scene of devastating earthquakes. According to Taiwanese seismologists, today’s earthquake is the strongest since 1999, when a 7.6-magnitude tremor left 2,400 dead.
Japan was hit by its last major earthquake earlier this year. The 7.6-magnitude event killed over 200 people and caused a meter-long tsunami and landslides. (ČTK)
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