Moderate earthquake hits northern Taiwan, no casualties

[News_Editor]

Moderate earthquake hits northern Taiwan, no casualties

2011-04-30 17:19:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN (BNO NEWS) -- A moderate earthquake struck northern Taiwan on late Saturday afternoon, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The 5.7-magnitude earthquake at 4.35 p.m. local time (0835 GMT) was centered about 48.8 kilometers (30.3 miles) southeast of New Taipei City, the most populous city of Taiwan that surrounds the capital city Taipei. It struck about 76 kilometers (47.2 miles) deep, making it a fairly shallow earthquake, according to the Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan.

The Central Weather Bureau estimated the largest local intensity to be around 4 on the Richter scale, making damage or casualties unlikely although the earthquake could be widely felt across the region.

Taiwan is frequently rattled by moderate and strong earthquakes. On April 26, 2010, a strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Taiwan, injuring 96 people and damaging at least 340 buildings throughout the island.

And on September 21, 1999, a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck central Taiwan, killing at least 2,297 people and injuring nearly 9,000 others. The quake, the second-deadliest earthquake in the island's history, also left some 600,000 people homeless.

The only earthquake more deadly than the earthquake in 1999 was a powerful earthquake that struck western Taiwan on April 21, 1935. It left at least 3,276 people killed and injured more than 12,000 others. Railways were left destroyed, iron bridges were fractured and tunnels cracked.

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