Taiwan hit by major series of aftershocks following April 3 earthquake

Al jazeera:

Taiwan has been rattled by a cluster of dozens of earthquakes that caused buildings to sway and that the government said were aftershocks from the huge quake that hit the island more than two weeks ago.

The strongest of the latest tremors, which the United States Geological Survey measured at a magnitude of 6.1, hit at about 2.30am (18:30 GMT) followed minutes later by a 6.0 tremor.

Taipei’s Central Weather Administration put them at 6.0 and 6.3, respectively.

The seismic activity, which was centred around Hualien on the east coast, caused buildings across large parts of northern, eastern and western Taiwan to shake throughout the night. There were no reports of casualties.

Office worker Kevin Lin, who lives in the capital Taipei, told the AFP news agency that the quake woke him.

“I was too scared to move and stayed in bed,” the 53-year-old said.

At about 8am (00:00 GMT), a 5.8-magnitude tremor shook the capital as commuters made their way to work.

The mountainous county of Hualien, about 150km (93 miles) from Taipei, was the epicentre of a magnitude-7.2 quake that struck the island on April 3, severely damaging buildings in Hualien City and triggering landslides in the surrounding countryside.