Eastern Taiwan hit by series of earthquakes causing some damage  

In a series, over 20 earthquakes struck the east coast of Taiwanon Wednesday morning. The earthquakes are likely to have caused some damage.

22 quakes were reported by the Central Weather Bureau forover two hours,starting at 6:52 am.

Thefirstquake, whichwasalsothelargestwith a magnitude of 5.2,struck at a relatively shallow depth of 5.9 kilometers. The otherquakesranged fromthemagnitude 3 to 5.

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Taiwan Apple Daily news websiteposted a photograph, showing theremains of a second floor wall above a storefront that had fallenonto the street and crumbled.

Thesequakesoccurredin Hualien County around the midpoint of the island’s east coast.

Last week,an earthquake occurred off the Taiwan coast, whichshookthebuildingsinthecapital,Taipei.

The country's weather bureau said the quake with a magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter scale took place on the east coast.

There were no reports of any casualties. The underwater quake took place at a depth of 7.6 km, the weather bureau said.

Hualien city measured the highest intensity includingYanliaovillage.

There have been a number of earthquakes reported in Hualien since June. On June 28, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake hit Hualien County in eastern Taiwan with another reported on June 23 measuring 4.9 in the same area.

On June 11, at least three earthquakes had hitShoufengin Hualien with one recorded at magnitude 5.3 at a depth of 11.2 km.

Taiwan has been susceptible to earthquakes for a long time with one the worst occurring in 1999 which measured 7.3 on the Richter scale. The earthquake shattered several buildings and led to the death of over 2,000 people.

The Taiwan government has set up several early warning systems across the country including in schools and in high-risk areas.

(With inputs fromagencies)