(Feb. 7, 2018): Yesterday on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018 at late night, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the coastal city Hualien of Taiwan that caused 2 dead and 202 injured (
Today on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, other aftershocks with highest truck of 5.7 magnitude continuing attack east coat near Hualien city that claims 5 dead, 60 missing and raising up to 240 injured people.
8.50pm: Taiwan earthquakes were ‘unprecedented’ claims expert
According to Chen Kuo-chang, acting director of the Central Weather Bureau's Seismology Center, the rapid succession of earthquakes that rocked Taiwan was highly unusual.
The expert said: "This is unprecedented and not a normal release of energy.”
At least 94 additional tremors were recorded in between the two massive earthquakes, with five of them reaching as high as magnitude 5.0.
Taiwan typically only witnesses 20 to 25 magnitude 5.0 or higher earthquakes each year.
4.30pm: Rescuers scramble for survivors in the aftermath of second devastating quake
At least 67 people are left unaccounted for in the tourist hotspot of Hualien as of Late Wednesday, Government officials have confirmed.
The Government said in a statement that so far seven people are also feared dead.
The second earthquake to strike Taiwan in a matter of two days hit some 21km northeast of the city at a depth of 11km, according to the US Geological Survey.
Lin Ching-wen, a local restauranteur said: "We were still open when it happened.
"I grabbed my wife and children and we ran out and tried to rescue people.”
4.30pm: Sebastian Kettley takes over live reporting from Kat Hopps.
4.07pm: Taiwan hit by ANOTHER strong earthquake - Big One fears as Ring of Fire on alert
Today’s quake has once again caused panic on the heavily-populated Asian island.
Testimonies have been left on earthquake monitoring website EMSC-CSEM by witnesses.
One said: “It seems unusual to have this many strong tremors in such a short time.”
Another said: “Feel dizzy, it lasted for almost one minute.”
The earthquake struck at 11.21pm local time (3.21pm GMT).
The earthquake struck at 11.21pm local time (3.21pm GMT).
AFP/GETTY
Taiwan earthquake live: The 6.4 magnitude earthquake caused this Hualien hotel to collapse
12.55pm: New earthquake 'can't be ruled out' Taiwan meterological service says
As aftershocks continue to rock the Taiwan coast, the country's meterological service Central Weather Bureau (CWB) says a new earthquake can't be ruled out.
Taiwan News reported that the CWB had said aftershocks from a 5.8 magnitude quake in the area on Sunday would decrease but the opposite was true.
The CWB had counted 94 aftershocks on Monday that began increasing from magnitude 4 to 5, eventually leading to Tuesday’s 6.0 magnitude quake.
The Director of the CWB Seismological Center, Chen Kuo-chang, said the numerous aftershocks seen before and after yesterday’s quake was ”unprecedented and not a normal release of energy", Taiwan News reported.
When asked by reporters if the magnitude 6.0 quake was a foreshock of an even bigger earthquake, Chen replied, "It can't be ruled out, however the probability is relatively small."
The death toll has now officially risen to six people.
11.35am: 4.1 aftershock shakes area around Hualien
A 4.1 magnitude aftershock is the latest one to hit the area.
The large tremor was recorded 24km north-east of Hualien at 10.19am GMT (6.19am local time) by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Scores of people remain trapped or missing beneath city buildings - six of which are at a dangerous tilt and could collapse at any moment.
QUAKES
The island Taiwan is located about 143km east of China
9.25am: Hualien City in numbers
The popular tourist Hualien City is located in the Hualien county on the eastern coast of Taiwan, surrounded by rivers and mountains.
Hualien City measures 29.41km sq and is home to 100,000 people.
The county is home to Taroko National Park, the Mugua River Gorge and Yushan National Park
9.15am: Number of missing rises to 80 people
The official number of people missing in the quake has risen to 80, Taiwan's Central Emergency Operation Center has reported.
The majority of these are believed to be trapped in the Marshal Hotel, the Yun Men Tsui Ti residential building, and two other residential towers which partially collapsed during the earthquake.
Some of the 243 people injured are said to be hurt "significantly".
President Tsai Ing-wen visited the secene of the quake early on Wednesday to help direct rescue operations.
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Taiwanese rescuers are combing through the buildings looking for survivors following yesterday's deadly earthquake which has left scores of people injured.
At the city's Marshal Hotel, rescuers tried to free two Taiwanese pulled out one alive, but the other person was declared dead, the government said.
Among the injured were mainland Chinese, Czech, Japanese, Singaporean and South Korean nationals.
Around 40,000 homes were left without water and 1,900 without power although water had returned to nearly 5,000 homes by noon (0400 GMT), while power was restored to around 1,700 households.
A series of significant earthquakes have been shuddering through the Hualian capita in recent hours, interrupting rescue efforts.
The most recent quake, measuring 4.8 on the richter scale, was located 15km north-east of Hulien at 3.36am GMT today (11.36am local time).
A total of five earthquakes 5.0 magnitude or above have rocked the area since the initial earthquake.
The largest of these was a 5.4 magnitude earthquake at 7.15pm GMT (3.15am local time).
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