If several buildings have seriously oscillated, this magnitude 6 earthquake did not make material damage.
Le Monde with AFP
A powerful earthquake occurred, Monday, January 3, off the east coast of Taiwan. The jolt was felt in the capital Taipei, without making victims or damage, for the moment, according to the authorities.
The Central Weather Office Taiwanese, Who Estame the magnitude at 6 with a depth of 19 kilometers and an epicenter to 56 kilometers east of Hualien, said that no damage has been reported at first.
Strong Earthquake in Eastern Taiwan. Felt Shacking in Taipei. #taiwan #arthquake https://t.co/99rvjdw39f
The initial reports on the earthquake concerned only a handful of people blocked in the elevators, which could be evacuated, according to Taiwanese firefighters. No material damage has been reported.
A journalist from the France-Presse Agency in Taipei told the buildings seriously oscillated when the shake struck at 5:46 pm (10:46, Paris time), which corresponds to the rush hour in the transports. “The shake lasted a good twenty seconds with the moving floor,” she told.
At the junction of two tectonic plates
According to Morgan Everett, an American who lives in Taiwan for thirteen years, the earthquake was “one of the strongest that” has] been “since his arrival. “My teenage sons were in the elevator of our building while they returned from school, which was quite scary,” she told. “They felt a strong jerk and heard the grinding cables. Fortunately the elevator worked normally and they could get out of it.”
A strong earthquake was felt in Taipei, Taiwan #AFP https://t.co/7yjkrmsimo
– AFPFR (@agence france-press)
The head of the central office of Meteorology stated that Taiwan recorded an average of 2,5 earthquakes per year of a magnitude of 6 or more. Last year, however, Taiwan experienced five earthquakes of a magnitude greater than 6.