Taiwan earthquake stirs tsunami fear in Asia

By Yusof Sulaiman l eTN Asia
Much of East Asia were drenched by raging waters and the World Wide Web came to a stall in a week as the region held its breath and almost came to a complete stop again. Following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit south Taiwan on Tuesday, authorities reported two deaths and at least 42 injured.

The US Geological Survey reported the quake struck 10 kilometers under the sea, near Kaohsiung.  The tremors triggered a series of aftershocks, felt as far away in Guangdong and Fujian provinces in China, and Vietnam.

A series of smaller earthquakes followed, ranging from 5.2 to 6.4 magnitude.  One just 6 kilometers under the water.

Authorities issued a brief tsunami warning in Vietnam which led to thousands of people leaving for higher ground along its 1,500 kilometer-coast.  “This was the first time such an emergency warning was issued,” Quang Ngoc Giai, a provincial committee, told AFP. “We started evacuating about 5,000 people living in high-risk areas.”

Meanwhile in Taiwan, high-rise buildings were shaken and roads and rail traffic disrupted. Several houses and buildings collapsed, damaging properties worth millions of dollars. 

Damaged undersea telecommunications cables disrupted international telecom and Internet services across the region, from China to Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan, up to Australia.

As operators sent out repair and maintenance ships to sea, the region will have limited Internet access for several weeks when undersea cables were damaged, disrupting Internet and phone services across Asia.

“For certain customers, it will take a longer time before full restoration as it may require a complete reinstallation of cables,” warned Japanese long-distance provider NTT Communications.

Almost all countries in Southeast Asia will continue to have limited access to the US as connections remain spotty. As much as 60 percent of phone line capacity to the US has been reported lost following the earthquake.

Across Southeast Asia, several days of seasonal rain has brought flash floods and landslides in the region.

In northwest Sumatra, at least 100 people were killed and almost 400,000 have been displaced by flood waters.  “More landslides may occur in the coming days,” said Edy Sofyan, a local government spokesman.

In Aceh province, Indonesia’s worst hit area during the 2004 tsunami, at least 70 people were reported killed, almost 200 are still missing and about 360,000 displaced when shoulder high raging waters swept through the east and north of the province.

A disaster task force official, Suwanto Amin, said food and medicine are being flown by helicopter to six districts, where an estimated 1,400 homes are under water.

“Thousands of victims are suffering from skin problems and fever caused by poor hygiene and dirty water,” said Red Cross spokesman Abul Hayat.

Neighbor Malaysia, which received a possible tsunami warning from the Japanese Meteorological Agency, withdrew its tsunami warning after registering a moderate 5.9 magnitude off Tawau Island.

Authorities have reported 8 deaths and almost 60,000 people still remain in evacuation and relief centers following flooding caused by torrential rain in Johor, Pahang, Malacca and Negri Sembilan states.

“The situation has improved in some areas, victims have gone back to their homes. The authorities are still monitoring the situation, while relief centers are still on stand by,” said an official from the National Crisis Management and Disaster Bureau.

December 29, 2006   Posted in: Taiwan