On Tuesday, a strong tremor of magnitude 7.1 has struck off Taiwan! According to the US Geological Survey, it was followed by a powerful aftershock. Though the quake could be felt across the island, no damage or injuries were immediately reported.
With the first tremor at 2026 (1226 GMT) south-west of Hengchun on the southern tip of Taiwan, people were reminded of the killer Asian tsunami on the same day, two years ago, that killed almost 250,000 people. The killer waves claimed almost 170,000 lives in Aceh in Indonesia with thousands more killed in Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.
The tremor reminded the island of the second anniversary of tragic day, whose scars are still unhealed. Just about 10 minutes later to the fist tremor, the second quake happened nearby, which measured at 6.4 on the Richter Scale.
With the quake swaying buildings and knocking objects off the shelves in Taipei, the habitats are rest assured by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre that no Pacific-wide tsunami was expected.