Earthquakes of magnitude 6, 6.3 strike eastern Taiwan

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Two earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and 6.3 struck central Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 2:26 a.m. and 2:32 a.m. Tuesday, respectively, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

The epicenter of the magnitude 6.0 temblor was located off Hualien coast in the Pacific Ocean, 29.9 kilometers south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 10 km, CWA data showed.

The temblor's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, was highest in Hualien County, where it measured a 5- on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. An intensity of 4 was recorded in Nantou and Yilan counties, according to the CWA.

The earthquake was soon followed by a bigger magnitude 6.3 earthquake. Its epicenter was located in Hualien's Shoufeng Township, 17.2 km south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 5.5 km, according to the weather agency.

The quake's intensity was highest in Hualien County, where it measured 5-, while an intensity of 4 was recorded in Nantou and Yilan counties and Taichung.

A total of 66 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08 p.m. Monday to 3:20 a.m. Tuesday, with 14 of them exceeding a magnitude of 5.

During a press briefing earlier Monday evening, Wu Chien-fu (吳健富), director of the CWA's Seismological Center, said the series of earthquakes were aftershocks of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that rocked Taiwan on April 3 and left at least 17 people dead.

The high frequency of aftershocks resembled the hours and days immediately following the April 3 quake.