Taiwan Earthquakes: Govt Ensures No Indonesian Victims Following Major Aftershocks

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the government continues to monitor the impact of aftershocks ranging from 4.4 to 5.5 magnitude which rocked Hualien, Taiwan on Monday afternoon, April 22, 2024. In coordination with the Taipei Trade and Economic Office (KDEI), the Indonesian government ensured that there have been no Indonesian victims during the series of earthquakes thus far.

"Based on KDEI's coordination with relevant parties and communities, no Indonesian citizens were affected by the aftershocks," said the Director for Citizen Protection at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Judha Nugraha, in a brief message, Monday evening.

Five aftershocks have hit Hualien County in succession on Monday afternoon since the 7.2-magnitude quake struck on April 3, 2024, according to the news agency Focus Taiwan. 

"This afternoon (Monday) there have been 13 aftershocks with the strongest scale being 5.5 (magnitude)," said Judha.

The biggest of the series, a magnitude 5.5 quake that hit at 5:08 p.m. Monday, occurred first in Hualien County's Shoufeng Township 26.8 kilometers south-southwest of Hualien County Hall at a depth of 10 km, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA.)

The earthquake's intensity was highest in Hualien and Nantou Counties, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale, but it was felt across much of Taiwan.

A magnitude 4.4 aftershock centered in the township occurred a minute later at a depth of 9.5 km, and also reached an intensity level of 4 in Hualien County and 2 in Nantou County to the west and Yilam County to the north.

That was followed by rapid-fire earthquakes of magnitudes 5.3, 4.9, and 4.9 at 5:12 p.m., 5:15 p.m., and 5:17 p.m., again centered in Shoufeng Township, CWA data showed. They were all relatively shallow, occurring at 10 kilometers, 5.4 km, and 2.8 km depths respectively.

Early Tuesday, Focus Taiwan reported another series of bigger aftershocks with magnitudes 6.0 and 6.3, bringing the tally of earthquakes from April 3 to April 23 to a total of 1,110.

CWA Seismology Center Director Wu Chien-fu said at a press conference that the aftershocks were felt more strongly over the last two days, and that “more aftershocks can be expected”. 

NABIILA AZZAHRA A. | FOCUS TAIWAN

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