Two powerful earthquakes rattled Taiwan early this Wednesday morning, a magnitude 7.4 quake followed by a 6.2, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The events prompted a tsunami warning for nearby Japanese territories, including Okinawa. In the eastern region of Taiwan, specifically Hualien County, the quakes were recorded by the USGS and later confirmed by the mayor of Taipei, Chiang Wan-an, who escalated the city’s disaster-response center to level two.
Officials emphasized that the disaster-response center had been activated at level two. Public works crews, industrial and fire stations deployed personnel, and emergency-response units were positioned in every division. The administration launched rapid assessments, ongoing reporting, and relief operations while urging residents to stay vigilant for aftershocks and to heed official updates from disaster-relief authorities.
The seismic event was felt across Taiwan and extended to Okinawa, where authorities reported a tremor intensity of four on the public scale. A tsunami alert was issued for Okinawa with waves potentially reaching up to three meters and expected to arrive around 10:00 local time, according to Kyodo News.
Beyond Taiwan, the incident prompted a tsunami warning for the Philippines. Based on tsunami-forecast models, coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean were warned to expect higher sea levels. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology urged residents in more than twenty coastal provinces to evacuate inland, moving to higher ground as forecasts indicated possible waves reaching vulnerable shores across those areas with first arrivals estimated between 08:33 and 10:33 local time and potentially persisting for hours.
Separately, the Ecuadorian Navy Oceanographic Institute (Inocar) stated that the quake did not meet criteria to trigger a tsunami alert for the mainland or insular coasts. Inocar noted that the available ocean-monitoring data did not indicate conditions consistent with a tsunami threat to the country.