Taiwan Hit by Another Big Quake, No Immediate Reports of Damage

File photo: A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan. (Getty Images)
File photo: A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan. (Getty Images)
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Taiwan Hit by Another Big Quake, No Immediate Reports of Damage

File photo: A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan. (Getty Images)
File photo: A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan. (Getty Images)

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck 34 km (21 miles) off Taiwan's eastern city of Hualien on Friday, the weather administration said, with no immediate reports of damage from what was the second strong tremor to hit the island in less than a day.
The quake also shook buildings in the capital Taipei. Authorities said subway services in the city continued at lower speeds, Reuters reported.
"It was close," said Hsieh Yu Wei, a singer who pulled his car over the moment he received a government-issued quake warning while driving on a Hualien coastal highway.
The quake had a depth of 9.7 km, the weather administration said, and followed a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that struck off Taiwan's northeastern shore on late Thursday.
Weather officials warned of aftershocks that could reach a magnitude of 5.5 in the next few days. Around a dozen earthquakes were recorded near Hualien since the major tremor this morning.
Weather officials have warned of the risk of landslides in mountainous areas following days of rain.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.
In April, Hualien was hit by the biggest earthquake to affect Taiwan in at least 25 years. Nine people were killed and more than 900 injured.
 



Trump Says He Told Netanyahu to End Gaza War But Criticizes Ceasefire Call

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, US, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, US, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo
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Trump Says He Told Netanyahu to End Gaza War But Criticizes Ceasefire Call

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, US, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, US, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo

Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last meeting in July to quickly end Israel's war in Gaza, but the former president also criticized ceasefire demands.
"He knows what he's doing, I did encourage him to get this over with," Trump told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. "It has to get over with fast. ... Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop."
Trump was referring to his meeting with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in late July, when Netanyahu visited the United States. He also met President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during his trip, said Reuters.
There has been an increased risk of a broader war in the Middle East after the recent killings of Palestinian group Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Both drew threats of retaliation against Israel.
In an event later on Thursday about tackling antisemitism, Trump criticized Biden and Harris' months-long calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
"From the start, Harris has worked to tie Israel's hand behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding ceasefire," Trump said, adding it "would only give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new October 7 style attack."
Trump added: "I will give Israel the support that it needs to win but I do want them to win fast."
In the same event, Trump also labelled pro-Palestinian supporters calling for an end to US support for Israel's war as "pro-Hamas thugs". He threatened to arrest and deport them from the US if he became president.
Netanyahu's office and Trump both separately denied on Thursday an Axios report that said they had spoken the previous day about Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks.
Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.
The Axios report cited two US sources. One source said the reported call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he did not know if this is indeed what the former president told Netanyahu.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations this week.
Washington, Israel's most important ally, has said that a ceasefire in Gaza will reduce the rising threat of a wider war.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.