TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Central Weather Administration (CWA, 氣象署) Seismological Center director clarified on Monday (Dec. 30) that the early morning earthquake in Meishan (梅山), Chiayi County (嘉義縣), was unrelated to the Meishan Fault or nearby fault zones, attributing it instead to tectonic plate collisions.
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Meishan (梅山), Chiayi County (嘉義縣), early Monday, shaking the region at 3:51 a.m. The CWA reported the quake's epicenter was 41.8 kilometers northeast of Chiayi County Government, with a depth of 12.3 kilometers. The tremor registered an intensity of 4 in Chiayi County, Yunlin County (雲林縣), Nantou County (南投縣), and Chiayi City (嘉義市).
Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) analyzed that 70% of earthquakes occur in the east due to the collision between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate, but the energy accumulates and transfers to the west, which can also experience quakes.
Despite the west's dense population, Wu assessed the quake as a fracture zone event, posing no significant threat or aftershock potential. Former CWA seismological center director Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋) echoed Wu's assessment, stating that the quake had no direct link to the Meishan, Dajianshan (大尖山), or Chukou (觸口) faults due to their distance from the epicenter.