Southern Taiwan jolted by 6.4-magnitude quake

[tinpra]

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan on Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries.

Taiwan's interior ministry reported 11 minor injuries.

The quake struck at about 8:20 a.m. (7:20 p.m. Wednesday ET) in a mountainous region about 25 miles northwest of Taitung, on the southeast coast, and 40 miles east of Tainan and Kaohsiung on the southwest coast.

Read the rest at CNN.com

Does anyone know if, like, having one major quake spawns others? I'm almost positive that Taiwan is in the ring of fire, but I am up past my bedtime so who knows.

Comments

From what I remember from earth science...

[lieueitak.livejournal.com]

Yes, earthquakes can create other earthquakes. It's called an earthquake storm, and basically what happens is that the tremors happen in one part of the fault, and the movement itself or the redistribution of stress along the fault that occurs from the movement creates other earthquakes. However, this term usually applies to earthquakes happening along the same fault; earthquakes that occur in the same area are swarms, and clearly swarm wouldn't be the right term here, but I'm not sure storm would be either. *shrugs*