TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following a large earthquake on Friday morning (Aug. 16), the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said aftershocks over magnitude 5 could occur in the coming days.

Hsu Li-wen (許麗文), deputy director of the CWA's Seismological Center said the magnitude 6.3 tremor at 7:35 a.m. was unrelated to the April 3 Hualien earthquake or Thursday's magnitude 5.7 quake, per CNA. Hsu said attention should be paid to potential aftershocks with a magnitude of up to 5.5 in the next three days. 

The CWA said the epicenter of Friday's quake was 34.2 km southeast of Hualien County Hall, with a 9.7 km focal depth. As of 10:30 a.m., 12 aftershocks had been recorded. 

Hsu said preliminary data suggests this earthquake is related to the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate. Although the location is quite close to the epicenter of the April 3 earthquake, the CWA believes that the aftershock energy from the April quake has already been released for the most part. 

Therefore, the CWA determined that Friday morning's earthquake “was an isolated incident,” said Hsu. She added that Thursday's magnitude 5.7 quake in Yilan was far from the epicenter of Friday's quake, so the two seismic events are also believed to be unrelated.

As large aftershocks are predicted over the coming three days and given the recent heavy rains, Hsu advised the public to beware of landslides and rockslides. 

Hsu added eastern Taiwan has always been an area where earthquakes are common. She said 16 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher have been reported in eastern Taiwan this year.