The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said no Filipinos were injured in the magnitude-6.0 and 6.3 earthquakes that rocked Hualien County in eastern Taiwan on Tuesday morning.
The DMW said it has reached out to the Filipino communities in Taiwan and placed its Migrant Workers Offices (MWO) on alert.
“MWOs are working closely with the Manila Economic and Cultural Office led by chairman Silvestre H. Bello III in reaching out to other Filipino communities, local authorities, employers and trade associations to ascertain the safety of our OFWs,” the DMW said.
Taiwan was shaken by dozens of earthquakes overnight Monday and into Tuesday that left buildings swaying and some tilting, with the government saying they were aftershocks from the huge deadly quake that hit the island more than two weeks ago.
The strongest shaking, which the US Geological Survey measured at magnitude-6.1, hit around 2:30 a.m. (1830 GMT) followed minutes later by a 6.0 tremor.
Authorities said there were no casualties reported so far, but the non-stop shaking meant a restless night even for those in the capital Taipei about 150 kilometers north, where walls and glass panels rattled in swaying homes.
“I was too scared to move and stayed in bed,” said office worker Kevin Lin, 53, in Taipei, who told AFP he was jolted awake by the intense quakes.
Around 8 a.m., a 5.8-magnitude tremor shook the capital as commuters made their way to work.
Aftershocks
The tremors started Monday around 5 p.m. and by about 10:30 a.m. the next day the Central Weather Administration said it had recorded more than 200 quakes. All had originated in Hualien on the central east coast of Taiwan.
The mountainous county was the epicenter of a magnitude-7.4 quake that hit on 3 April, which Taiwan said was the “strongest in 25 years,” triggering landslides that blocked roads and severely damaged buildings around the main Hualien city.
At least 17 people were killed then, with the latest body found in a quarry on 13 April.
In Hualien on Tuesday, a hotel building that was previously damaged started tilting at an angle overnight, according to footage obtained by AFP.
The Hualien county government announced that schools and offices would be closed Tuesday due to the continuous aftershocks.
Taiwan sees frequent earthquakes due to its location at the junction of two tectonic plates, and the 3 April quake was followed by more than 1,100 aftershocks that caused rockfalls and tremors around Hualien.
