Japan Earthquake : 6.8 Magnitude Earthquake Building, bridges collapse - Tsunami Warning

Japan's Meteorological Agency and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami advisory shortly after the quake in Taiwan. However, both later updated their alerts saying that there is no danger of high waves.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on Sunday, causing at least three buildings to collapse, damage to roads, bridges and derailment of trains in the sparsely populated southeastern region. According to the island's weather bureau, the epicenter of the quake was in Taitung County and a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the same area on Saturday evening. No casualties were reported in both the incidents.

Tremors were also felt in the capital Taipei and the southwestern city of Kaohsiung.

According to Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA), China's Central Weather Bureau (CWB) recorded the 6.8 earthquake in Taitung as the "main shock" and a 6.4 magnitude earthquake and 70 earthquakes as the first tremors on Saturday. which has now been reclassified as foreskin.



Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has urged people to be on the alert for more aftershocks in the coming hours. "The water and electricity supply in some areas has also been affected by the earthquake," he wrote on Facebook. "The related disaster relief work is in full swing."

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck Taiwan at 2:44 pm on Sunday, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Taitung at a depth of 10 kilometers. According to reports, the intensity of the tremor was initially reported as 7.2, but was later reduced to 6.9.

In Hualien's Yuli Township, an earthquake caused a three-story 7-Eleven convenience store building to collapse. The Hualien fire department was quoted by AFP as saying that four people trapped in the building had been rescued. Two other buildings in the town collapsed but none were in them. The report said that two nearby bridges collapsed while two others were damaged.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said a train derailed at Dongli station in Hualien.

While Japan's Meteorological Agency and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued tsunami advisories shortly after the quake, both later updated their alerts, saying there was no risk of high waves.

What is Tsunami?

Tsunamis are giant waves caused by large earthquakes near or under the sea, underwater volcanic eruptions, submarine landslides or onshore landslides in which large amounts of debris fall into the water.

Earthquake caused tsunami

According to the USGS, earthquakes with a magnitude of between 6.5 and 7.5 usually do not cause destructive tsunamis, but small sea changes can be seen in the vicinity of the epicenter. "Tsunamis capable of causing damage or casualties are rare in this magnitude range, but have been caused by secondary impacts such as landslides or submarine collapses," it says.

Earthquakes between 7.6 and 7.8 can cause devastating tsunamis, especially near the epicenter. But in this magnitude range it is considered rare for a tsunami to cause damage over large distances.

However a magnitude of 7.9 and above causes significant destruction, especially if the epicenter of the earthquake is near the seashore. For earthquakes of magnitude 9.0 or greater, there is a high probability of an aftershock of magnitude 7.5 or greater causing further damage to life and property.

Taiwan earthquake

China's Central Meteorological Bureau (CWB) has said that the 6.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Taiwan on Saturday is now classified as a foreskin. Chen Kuo-chang was quoted as saying, "There have been instances in the past when a major earthquake was later re-designated as foreshadowing after another major earthquake." He also said that a flurry of earthquakes over the weekend may have been triggered by the Central Mountain Range fault system.

What is a defect?

A fault is a fracture or area of ​​fracture between two blocks of rock in the Earth's crust. When an earthquake occurs on one of these faults, the rock on one side of the fault shifts relative to the other.

Taiwan is located on the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea in a seismically active region also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. The horseshoe-shaped belt region encircles the Pacific Ocean where plate tectonics are intensely active. Geologists have identified several active faults on the island, but most earthquakes found in Taiwan are due to the convergence of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate to the east of the island.

The Central Geological Survey of China (CGS) updated the number of active faults in Taiwan to 36 in June after the discovery of three more active faults in Kaohsiung City, Tainan City and Nantu County.

According to China's Central Weather Bureau, between 1901 and 2000, Taiwan experienced 91 major earthquakes, 48 ​​of which lost their lives. In 2013, two earthquakes of magnitude 6.2 and 6.5, named the Nantou earthquake series, affected central Taiwan. This earthquake chain caused three buildings to collapse, killing four and injuring many. Taiwan's deadliest 7.6 magnitude earthquake ever occurred in September 1999, killing more than 2,400 people.