People Should Remain Vigilant for Aftershock 花蓮卓溪10:07規模5.9地震 應屬池上餘震

The Central Weather Bureau says the frequency and length of time between aftershocks should be abating, but everyone should still remain vigilant in the next few days.

Another magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Hualien's Zhuoxi Township at 10:07 a.m. on the 19th. The Central Weather Bureau regards this quake as an aftershock of the 6.8 magnitude Chishang earthquake on the 18th. The CWB recorded 61 aftershocks in the nine hours after the Chishang earthquake and 12 between midnight and 9 a.m. on the 19th.

Chen Kuo-chang, Director, CWB Seismological Center: “Based on data collected between last night and 9 a.m. today, the length of time between aftershocks is going up while frequency is going down.”

The CWB says there may be further magnitude-5 aftershocks between now and the 21st but the frequency of aftershocks should be going down. One expert says the 6.8 earthquake was caused by the Central Range Fault, which has been releasing energy since the Shoufeng earthquake last April.

Kuo Kai-wen, Former Director, CWB Seismological Center: “When you enter a seismically active period, the energy has to be released somehow. Taiwan has to be able to release all the accumulated energy.”

The prediction of experts that Taiwan is entering a seismically active period is especially concerning to residents of Chiayi and Tainan, which have not seen a major earthquake in some time. The CWB says Chiayi and Tainan are in fact high-risk earthquake zones but it has no earthquake forecasts for the area at this time.

一陣天搖地動，19日上午10時07分，花蓮卓溪鄉再發生規模5.9地震，氣象局研判，仍屬18日池上6.8主震的餘震，根據地震測報中心統計，18日下午主震發生之後9個小時內，出現61起餘震，不過19日凌晨起餘震趨緩，一直到19日上午9時，出現12次餘震，頻率顯著下降。

地震測報中心主任陳國昌指出：「從昨天晚上我們統計的數字跟今天早上9時所統計的數字就可以明顯看出來，後續的餘震應該是朝向逐漸拉長發生的時間，頻率逐漸降低來發展。」

氣象局預估，18日起的3天內都不排除出現規模5以上餘震，不過估計這起地震序列，趨勢已經在減緩，有學者分析，18日池上規模6.8地震是中央山脈斷層所引起，分析這個斷層帶附近，從2021年4月壽豐地震開始，就陸續有多次能量釋放。

前氣象局地震測報中心主任郭鎧紋解釋：「進入活躍期就是代表能量要正常的釋放，要把我們台灣累積的能量釋放掉。」

針對學者預測，台灣已經進入地震活躍期，很久沒有大規模地震的嘉南地區，要特別留意，氣象局不諱言，嘉南地區確實是地震潛勢風險很高的區域，不過以目前的技術還無法預測地震，提醒民眾要提高防災意識。