TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Japan Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said Japan was ready to offer assistance to Taiwan following two quakes of magnitude 6 and over, which hit Hualien County on Tuesday (April 23) morning.

Two empty buildings in Hualien City partially collapsed, but no injuries were reported. The quakes were considered to be aftershocks of the magnitude 7.2 tremor on April 3, which left 17 people dead and two missing.

At a regular news conference Tuesday morning, Hayashi mentioned the April 3 earthquake, CNA reported. He expressed the government’s sympathy for the quake victims and said it would continue to offer assistance.

Both countries have a history of serious earthquakes and of providing mutual assistance with disaster relief in the form of financial and practical support.