Collapsed buildings, victims and wounded. Video of the earthquake « 3B Meteo

A violent earthquake hits Taiwan, and a sequence of earthquakes is underway A series of strong earthquakes struck Taiwan several hours ago: The heaviest magnitude 7.4 shock occurred around 2.15 a.m. Italian time, at a depth of about 34 km. It was followed ten minutes later by a second severe earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4. Dozens of subsequent aftershocks, still continuing, often with a magnitude equal to or greater than 5, and therefore still of strong magnitude. This is the strongest earthquake in twenty-five years. According to the director of the Taipei Seismological Center, Wu Chien-fu. It is the strongest earthquake in the past 25 years. The epicenter of the quake was located about 25 kilometers south of Hualien County and 138 kilometers from Taipei, in the open sea.

Collapses, casualties and injuries Such a violent earthquake inevitably caused extensive damage, with buildings partially or completely collapsing in some cases. According to local media, many people are still trapped under the rubble and cannot be counted More than 800 wounded and at least 9 victims: It is a balance that, unfortunately, is likely only temporary given the current situation. Power outages were recorded across the island, but power was largely restored about an hour after the quake.

Tsunami warning removed, coastal areas evacuated in Philippines – Since the epicenter of the earthquake was located at sea, a tsunami warning was issued, and fortunately it was lifted. However, as a precaution, coastal areas in the Philippines were evacuated, and Okinawa Prefecture (Japan) suspended flights to the island's airport.

Why does an earthquake occur and what does it depend on? Earthquakes are extremely violent manifestations of nature, arising from complex movement dynamics involving mostly the outer part of our planet, the crust. The shell is divided into several laminae, or plates fitted together like a puzzle. There are at least seven large plates and dozens of smaller ones. These sheets of crust rest on a partially molten, plastic-behaving substrate called the mantle and move slowly over time, pulled as if on a treadmill by convective movements within the mantle itself. Plate margins are subjected to enormous tensions that cause rocks to fracture and disintegrate into large fractures called faults. Activation of faults causes earthquakes that can be shallow (causing a lot of damage) or deep (more than 50-70 km). Earthquakes can also occur far from plate boundaries, for example in volcanic areas.

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