Magnitude 6.1 Christmas Eve Earthquake Strikes Taiwan's East Coast

TaiwanPlus News

On Christmas Eve, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Taitung. The shallow quake caused major damage to a high school. Seismologists predict more strong aftershocks in the coming week.

Transcript

00:00Items fall off store shelves as a magnitude 6.1 earthquake hits Taitung County.

00:08The sudden shaking on Wednesday evening gave residents of this area of southeastern Taiwan a scare.

00:13The earthquake was shallow, 11.9 kilometers deep, and could be felt 300 kilometers away in the capital, Taipei.

00:43Transit in Taitung and the southern city of Kaohsiung were temporarily interrupted but returned to normal on Wednesday evening.

00:56A high school near the epicenter suffered severe damage.

00:59The ceiling of the cafeteria collapsed, water pipes burst, and walls of several buildings had huge cracks.

01:13Authorities are warning of potential aftershocks of up to magnitude 6 in the next week,

01:20with several shallow but low-intensity quakes already shaking the region overnight.

01:25With more tremors expected, residents on the east coast are likely to be on alert amid the end-of-year festivities.

01:31Howard Zhang and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.

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