TAIPEI—Dozens of aftershocks rocked Hualien, a county in eastern Taiwan affected by the earthquake late on Monday and early on Tuesday. However, there were no injuries or significant damage reports, and leading chipmaker TSMC stated that its operations were unaffected.
At least 17 people were murdered in Hualien, a mostly rural and poorly inhabited region, when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck on April 3. Since then, there have been more than 1,000 aftershocks.
Large swaths of northern, eastern, and western Taiwan, including the capital Taipei, saw buildings tremble all night long due to the magnitude 6.3 biggest earthquake. Everyone was quite naive.
“Especially at 2 a.m., it shook very strongly. In fact, for a moment even I thought about rushing downstairs, but as we live on the sixth floor, I felt it a bit troublesome to go down,” said Taipei resident Aden Peng, 44, a medical researcher.
“Then again, according to my previous experience, I thought it should be fine and hoped it would be fine,” Peng added. “And because I was very tired, I just continued to sleep, hoping for the best.”
According to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, the string of earthquakes that began on Monday afternoon—more than 200 in total—were aftershocks from the significant earthquake that occurred on April 3.
The director of the Seismological Center, Wu Chien-fu, informed reporters that further aftershocks, but maybe not as severe, might be anticipated. He described the aftershocks as a "concentrated release of energy."
People in Hualien should be ready for more inconvenience since heavy rain is expected for the entire week, he continued.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen urged people to exercise caution and avoid the mountains in a post on her Facebook page.
“When an earthquake occurs, don’t panic. Master the principle of ‘duck, cover, stay put’,” she wrote.
According to the Hualien fire department, two buildings that were already unoccupied due to damage on April 3 sustained more damage and were tilting.
There were no casualty reports.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the biggest contract chipmaker in the world, reported that while some employees at a few plants were evacuated, all people were safe and the facility and safety systems were operating as intended. TSMC's operations are located on the western coast of the island.
“Currently, we do not expect any impact on operations,” it said in an email.
Investors dismissed the earthquake fear, as seen by the 1.75 percent increase in TSMC's Taipei-listed shares on Tuesday morning.
Following reports of rockfalls, several roads in the hilly Hualien county were closed, and the authorities called off work and school for the day.
Taiwan is earthquake-prone because it is located close to the meeting point of two tectonic plates.
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake in 1999 claimed more than 2,000 lives, while a 2016 earthquake in southern Taiwan claimed over 100 lives.
