TAIPEI: Taiwan’s quake-hit eastern county of Hualien was rattled by dozens of aftershocks late on Monday (Apr 22) and early on Tuesday, but only minor damage was reported and no casualties and major chipmaker TSMC said it saw no impact on operations.
Largely rural and sparsely populated Hualien was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Apr 3 that killed at least 17 people, and there have been more than 1,000 aftershocks since.
Singaporean couple Sim Hwee Kok and Neo Siew Choo are the only people still unaccounted for. They are believed to have gone missing along the Shakadang Trail.
Buildings across large parts of northern, eastern and western Taiwan, including in the capital, Taipei, swayed throughout the night, with the largest earthquake measuring a magnitude of 6.3. All were very shallow.
“Especially at 2 am, it shook very strongly. In fact, for a moment even I thought about rushing downstairs, but as we live on the sixth floor, I felt it a bit troublesome to go down,” said Taipei resident Aden Peng, 44, the medical researcher.
“Then again, according to my previous experience, I thought it should be fine and hoped it would be fine,” Peng added. “And because I was very tired, I just continued to sleep, hoping for the best.”
