TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The number and strength of aftershocks following the massive April 3 earthquake shows a diminishing trend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said Sunday (April 7).
Officials commented at a special news conference after a magnitude 5.4 earthquake jolted most of north and central Taiwan at 6:01 p.m. Sunday. Saturday evening also saw a magnitude 5.3 quake.
The CWA said that since the magnitude 7.2 struck off the coast of Hualien County Wednesday morning, there had been 27 aftershocks with a magnitude of 5 or more, the Liberty Times reported. Officials saw a trend for less frequent and weaker tremors, though they were unwilling to exclude the possibility of other magnitude 5 quakes during the next few days.
A total of 707 aftershocks had been recorded since the main quake until Sunday evening, including local quakes mostly felt in the Hualien area, according to the CWA.
The April 3 earthquake left 13 people dead, six missing, and more than 1,000 injured. Search teams have been operating along mountain paths in Taroko National Park, where the missing were believed to have been hiking, while a group from Turkey arrived in the country Saturday evening to work with specialized drones.
