Weather front, earthquakes hit Taiwan

ROLLER-COASTER RIDE:
More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon

• By Wang Chin-yi and Wu Liang-yi / Staff reporters, with CNA

Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls.

As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation.

A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it said.

Former Weather Forecast Center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮), who is now an adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, said there is also an increased chance of lightning, strong winds and sudden downpours this week.

It started raining yesterday afternoon in northern areas of Hualien County, resulting in landslides that blocked the railway line between Chongde (崇德) and Heren (和仁), interrupting train services on the North-Link Line (北迴線), Taiwan Railway Corp said.

The slope collapse and rockfalls have blocked off both directions of railway tracks between Heren and Chongde, and rocks and debris are still falling down from the slopes of Provincial Highway No. 9 above the railway. Therefore, excavators cannot move into the area and the blocked section would not be open as of late last night, he said.

Starting at 4pm yesterday, train services from Taipei to Hualien and Taitung cities were canceled and express trains northbound from Taitung would terminate in Hualien City, it said.

Taiwan Railway Corp urged passengers to check its Web site, call its 24-hour service at (02) 2191-0096 or the toll-free line at 0800-765-888 for the latest information.

Travelers with tickets that were not used due to the slope collapse can apply for a refund within the next year, it added.

Meanwhile, more than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession late yesterday afternoon, continuing the unsettling roller-coaster ride Hualien County residents have been on since a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit the county on April 3 .

The biggest of the series, a magnitude 5.5 quake that hit at 5:08pm yesterday, occurred 26.8km south-southwest of Hualien County Hall at a depth of 10km, the Central Weather Administration said.

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake centered in Shoufeng Township (壽豐) occurred a minute later at a depth of 9.5km, the agency said.

It was followed by earthquakes of magnitudes 5.3, 4.9 and 4.9 at 5:12pm, 5:15pm and 5:17pm, again centered in the township, the agency added.

They were all relatively shallow, occurring at depths of 10km, 5.4km and 2.8km respectively.

Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) said the series of shallow quakes were aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake.

Wu said that the frequency and number of aftershocks have generally abated, despite yesterday’s activity, but he expects more aftershocks, mostly of magnitude 3 and occasionally magnitude 4.