2 earthquakes that hit eastern Taiwan early Saturday unrelated: CWA

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) The two earthquakes in eastern Taiwan Saturday morning were unrelated, with the first an aftershock linked to the magnitude 7.2 temblor that struck the region on April 3, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurred at 1:10 a.m. Saturday, 9.8 kilometers north-northwest of Hualien County Government, CWA data showed.

The temblor had a depth of 13.1 km and a maximum intensity of level 4 in Hualien County, Nantou County, Yilan County and Taichung.

A second earthquake took place at sea at 8:32 a.m., 47.2 km south-southeast of Yilan County Government, according to the administration.

The magnitude 4.9 earthquake had a depth of 18.8 km and a maximum intensity of level 4 in Yilan County.

According to the CWA, there had been 1,493 aftershocks since the April 3 earthquake as of 9 a.m. Saturday.

Among them, 379 were felt significantly -- including six registering between magnitude 6 and 7, and 80 between magnitude 5 and 6.

Aftershocks measuring magnitude 5 or above may continue to occur in the next one to two months, the CWA said, adding that there is no need to panic.

The frequency of the aftershocks is decreasing and that shows no sign of changing, it said.

The magnitude 4.9 earthquake on Saturday was associated with seismic activities in the Heping Basin off the coast of Yilan County, the CWA said.