TAIPEI, Taiwan - Three consecutive earthquakes rocked eastern
Taiwan early Tuesday, but there were no reports of injuries or
damage.
The third
quake, measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale, hit at 1:30 a.m. (1730
GMT Monday), with its epicenter 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) southeast
of eastern Hualien city.
The first
quake, with the same magnitude, struck at 1:28 a.m. (1728 GMT
Monday), originating 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) east of Hualien
city and 10.5 kilometers below the earth's surface.
A few seconds
later another hit the same area.
The Seismology
Center warned earlier this month that eastern parts of Taiwan
could be hit by a series of powerful earthquakes after a lull
of more than six years.
One person
was injured on September 10 when an earthquake measuring 6.2 on
the Richter scale hit the eastern island, which sits in an area
where the Philippine Sea plate and Eurasian plate collide.
The quake
on September 10 was a reminder of the earthquake on September
21 last year which killed 2,400 people and left some 100,000 people
homeless.
The devastating
quake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale was the biggest to hit
the island in a century.
Since then
minor tremors and aftershocks have been a daily occurrence.
On June 11,
a quake with a magnitude of 6.7 hit central Taiwan, killing two
people and injuring 36.
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