Hualien is not a place for the faint-hearted. Seems like there have been several 6+ers there in the last 6 years - so much for letting off tension.

At 7.2, it was a whole-island shake, at 8am. Another quake at 6+ struck shortly after.

Looking at the partially collapsed buildings, that would be about as scary as life could get whilst still being somehow survivable.

Seems the turtle head fell off Gwei Shan Dao - that's ... seismic.

Good thing it hit in such a sparsely populated area. This would have been far worse had it happened anywhere on the west coast, obviously. Still, although only 9 dead is a miracle, over 1,000 injured indicates how widespread the damage was.

9 dead, 1,038 injured day after 7.2 earthquake hits Taiwan

Any word from Romain and Lou? Last I heard they were living in the Chenggong area.

Romaine & Lou (& tribe) are fine. Seems it wasn't so intense to the south.

Got friends in Taipei on the 23rd floor who had the whole poltergeist experience where the cupboards fling open & the crockery comes flying out. Very scary when things start smashing.

Crazy footage of cars playing Russian roulette with boulders on the Su Hwa Highway. That road is dangerous at the best of times - i've always dreaded being on it during an earthquake.

The drivers somehow escaped with their lives.

https://youtu.be/thEYcZyy58U

Looking at CWB's earthquake catalog, they're been having a 3-4M tremor (quite feelable) every 10 minutes for the last two days - with a couple of 5s thrown in. That's gotta be nerve-shredding.

That's absolutely insane.

It looks like at least those in the front seats of the car that got hit may have actually survived. Unfortunately, a child 'safety' seat tied up securely in the back wouldn't have provided much protection.

Normally, they say expect strong aftershocks in the 3-4 days after the main one. But this keeps going on. Including a 6+ three weeks after. Just now another 5.9

It's unusual to stay active this long. Must be very straining on the nerves for residents there.

Is this (Hualien) the most active earthquake zone in the world? It'd hold the record for the last 10 years, you'd think.

5.7 in Ilan, about 30 mins ago. Felt clearly in Taipei.

That's the usual higher-end size for Ilan, historically, but there's action all along the east coast. The sequence started in Taidong, then spasmed up through Hualien to Ilan. Hualien & Taidong could still get a bigger one in the coming days or weeks.

The terms are interesting - trough, ridge, trench, plates - all that grinding away beneath our feet in some colossal conflict - that inevitably ends badly (for humans - most other organisms are fine).

It appears to be Hualien's turn now. Fifteen quakes just today with 2 in the 4+ range.

It appears to be Hualien's turn now. Fifteen quakes just today with 2 in the 4+ range.

Then a 6.3 yesterday - luckily a bit out to sea. Is there any place in the world that gets more 6+ers than Hualien?