TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the east coast of Taiwan at 7:05 a.m. on Tuesday morning (Oct. 24), the Central Weather Administration (CWA) stated that aftershocks with a magnitude of 5.5 to 6.0 are possible over the next five days.

The epicenter of the temblor was 120.2 kilometers east of Hualien County Hall, with a shallow focal depth of 5.7 km, based on CWA data. The greatest intensity felt from the quake's shock waves was Level 3 in Yilan County, Hualien County, New Taipei City, Hsinchu County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, and Changhua County.

Wu Chien-fu (吳健富), deputy director of the Central Weather Bureau’s Seismological Center, stated at a press conference on Tuesday that the preliminary assessment is that the main cause of the quake was the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate, per CNA. However, due to the shallow depth of the earthquake, almost all of Taiwan felt it.

Nevertheless, due to the distance from the epicenter, the seismic intensity in most areas was not that large. The Taipei Basin and high-rise buildings may have experienced more noticeable effects.

Wu pointed out that it is difficult for earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 or above to release all their energy in one go. Therefore, the CWA cannot rule out the possibility that there will be aftershocks with a magnitude of 5.5 to 6.0 within the coming five days.

However, if the aftershocks occur near the epicenter, because the epicenter is far away from Taiwan, the impact on Taiwan Proper will be less than on Tuesday.

Wu explained that Tuesday's earthquake is also the first earthquake with a magnitude of 6 or more within the observation range this year, and it is also the largest earthquake in terms of magnitude. Over the past 10 years, there have been an average of two to three earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 or above each year, but in 2008 and 2011, such larger quakes were not recorded.

On average, there are 24 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5 every year, and this year there were already 25, which is still within the average range. Wu said that outside the monitoring network, there were two earthquakes this year near Taiwan that exceeded a magnitude of 6, but neither impacted the country.