Strong quake damages buildings in southeastern Taiwan

Rattled Taiwan hit by more aftershocks TAIPEI — Aftershocks struck southeastern Taiwan on Monday, including a 5.5-magnitude earthquake that was felt in the capital Taipei, a day after a more powerful tremor killed one person and injured around 150 others. The latest quake hit around 10 a.m., 66 kilometers south-southwest of the coastal city of Hualien at a depth of 13 kilometers, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. Taiwan's central weather bureau put the magnitude at 5.9. Rural and sparsely populated southeastern Taiwan has been rattled by a series of jolts since Saturday. The most powerful, a 6.9-magnitude quake, struck on Sunday afternoon, tearing up roads and bringing down a handful of houses in the town of Yuli where at least one person was killed. Four others were rescued from a collapsed building, while authorities said a total of 146 suffered injuries. Taiwan is regularly hit by quakes and most cause minimal damage but the island also has a long history of deadly disasters. Hualien, a tourist hotspot, was struck by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in 2018 that killed 17 people and injured nearly 300. In September 1999, a 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island's history.

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