TAIWAN- A magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurred Wednesday morning near Taiwan and triggered tsunami warnings in that territory, the southern islands of Japan and the Philippines, authorities reported.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency calculated the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.5, although the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said it was 7.4.
“The earthquake was close to the ground and is shallow. It was felt throughout Taiwan and the islands (…). It is the strongest in 25 years,” Wu Chien-fu, director of the Taiwanese Seismological Center, told reporters. in reference to the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in September 1999 that left 2,400 dead.
Authorities in Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines issued tsunami warnings for their coastal regions, where they anticipated waves of up to three meters.
The alert in Japan was for its remote islands near Taiwan, including Miyakojima, according to the weather agency.
“Evacuate!” said a banner on Japanese national television NHK. “A tsunami is coming, please evacuate immediately,” said a presenter from that Japanese network. “Don’t stop, don’t turn back,” he advised.
The Philippine seismological institute “strongly” recommended that residents of 23 coastal provinces move to high inland areas due to the risk of “large tsunami waves.”
According to the USGS, the earthquake had its epicenter 18 km south of the Taiwanese city of Hualien, with a depth of 34.8 km.
Source: AFP
