Taipei: A strong, 6.0-magnitude earthquake
hit central Taiwan on Thursday, the government said, with initial
reports stating that one person had suffered minor injuries.
The quake struck at 5:32 pm local time in Nantou county,
the Central Weather Bureau said. It could be felt as far away
as Taipei in the north of the island.
The high-speed railway system linking the capital city in
the north and the second biggest city Kaohsiung in the south
was forced to shut down temporarily, the company said.
An official at the National Fire Agency said a female
student in Taiping city, central Taiwan, suffered minor
injuries to her head when she was hit by debris falling from
the ceiling of her classroom.
The quake also caused cracks to houses and power failures
in 1,200 of homes in the area, the official said to a news agency by
telephone.
Four aftershocks, with one measuring 5.7, hit central
Taiwan within two hours of the first quake, the Central
Weather Bureau said.
The 6.0-magnitude quake was the biggest one to hit in
Nantou area in 10 years, after a 7.6-magnitude quake killed
around 2,400 people in 1999.
Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies
near the junction of two tectonic plates.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 05, 2009, 21:11