Taiwan hit by new series of strong earthquakes

Taiwan was hit by a series of strong earthquakes over several hours between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, nearly three weeks after at least 17 people were killed by a powerful magnitude 7.4 quake.

The first quake was a magnitude 5.5 detected Monday evening in the eastern county of Hualien, the epicenter of the April 3 quake, followed by a series of smaller tremors.

The strongest quake hit several hours later, which Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s seismology center measured as magnitude 6.3, coming several minutes after a magnitude 6.0 quake. Authorities in Hualien county say two buildings that sustained serious damage in the April 3 earthquake partially collapsed after the Tuesday morning quakes.

The Central Weather Administration’s seismology center says the earthquakes were aftershocks of the April 3 disaster. No casualties were reported from the new earthquakes. Schools and offices in Hualien were ordered closed Tuesday.

The April 3 earthquake was the most powerful to hit Taiwan since a magnitude 7.7 earthquake 25 years ago, which killed 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.