臺灣7.2級強震 引發1米高海嘯
[ 2006-12-27 09:22 ]
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12月26日晚，臺灣高雄屏東地區的恒春鎮遭遇百年來最大一次地震，且一晚數震，目前已造成2人死亡。據臺灣媒體報道，地震發生時，全臺都可以感受到搖晃，震度最大地點在恒春，其次是彰化以南地區。地震發生之后的半個小時內，接連出現了十幾起余震。至于地震的成因，臺灣氣象局地震測報中心認為，仍然屬于菲律賓海板塊與歐亞大陸板塊彼此推擠，應該是能量正常的釋放。太平洋海嘯預報中心認為，這次地震會在局部地區造成小規模的海嘯，但應該不會造成重大災害。 |
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meteorologist at Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau in Taipei points to a
graph showing the tremors of an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter
scale that rattled the island December 26, 2006. [Reuters]
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A
powerful earthquake struck off southwestern Taiwan on Tuesday, triggering a
tsunami warning on the second
anniversary of the waves that killed more than 200,000 in southern Asia.
Two hours later, seismologists lifted the warning, saying the threat of
destructive waves had passed.
Taiwanese media reported two persons were killed.
Reports said that many streets in the city were cracked and a major bridge
was damaged. Several fires broke out in the area, apparently caused by downed
electric power cables.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, which hit at 8:26 p.m. (1226 GMT),
registered magnitude 7.2, while
Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau measured it at 6.7. It was followed eight
minutes later by an aftershock
registering 7.0, the USGS said.
According to China Seismological Bureau, two earthquakes -- the first
measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale and the second measuring 6.7 -- hit the South
China Sea on Tuesday. The epicenter
was located at 21.9 degrees north latitude and 120.6 degrees east longitude,
about 350 kilometers from the Chinese mainland and 15 kilometers from Taiwan.
Philippine police said coastal areas had been alerted.
The warning underscored the higher level of caution about tsunami waves in
the region since a massive earthquake off Indonesia exactly two years earlier
triggered a powerful tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people in a
dozen countries.
Tuesday's quake was felt throughout Taiwan. It swayed buildings and knocked
objects off the shelves in the city of Taipei, in the northern part of the
island. Phone lines were cut in the southern cities of Kaohsiung and Pingtung,
possibly hindering reports of damage by residents, the CTI Cable News reported.
Several high-rise hotels swayed violently in Kaohsiung.
"The building swayed so badly that many guests panicked and ran out of their
rooms and into the streets," she said.
The tremor was centered at sea about 23 kilometers (13 miles) southwest of
Hengchun on the southern tip of Taiwan, the bureau said. Hengchun is about 450
kilometers (260 miles) south of Taipei. Quakes frequently shake Taiwan, which is
part of the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines
encircling the Pacific Basin. Most are minor and cause little or no damage.
However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999 killed
more than 2,300 people.
（Agencies）
Vocabulary:
tsunami：海嘯
magnitude：震級
aftershock：余震
epicenter：震中
（英語點津陳蓓編輯） |
