Author: Phillip Charlier

Hsinchu County shaken by 10 earthquakes so far today

map showing earthquake areas
Earthquakes 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

While Taiwan is prone to frequent earthquakes, the relatively geologically stable Hsinchu County has experienced 10 small earthquakes today, the strongest with a magnitude of 3.7. All of the quakes occurred within a small radius around Emei Township. According to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau an earthquake of magnitude 3.3 occurred in Emei Township at 10:44 am. The earthquake’s intensity was felt as a level 3 in Guanxi, and 2 in Hsinchu City, Zhunan, and parts Miaoli County. Another quake followed

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Oil tanker listing in Port of Kaohsiung after collision with breakwater

oil tanker listing at Port of Kaohsiung
Marine and Fisheries 
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A 42,000 ton oil tanker began to take on water after colliding with a breakwater at the Port of Kaohsiung and damaging its hull, but there is little chance of oil pollution port authorities say. According to reports today, February 4, the Danish-flagged oil products tanker TORM EMILIE (IMO: 9277785) was entering the port on Tuesday, February 1, when it collided with the south dike breakwater, causing a hull breach, the harbor bureau said. The outer shell of the hull

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Live leatherback turtle found stranded on beach entangled in fishing nets

stranded turtle entangled in discarded fishing nets
Animals Marine and Fisheries 
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A live leatherback turtle was sent to National Taiwan Ocean University for medical treatment after being found stranded on New Taipei City beach yesterday, February 1. Coast Guard personnel were dispatched to Fulong Beach in Gongliao District after National Coast Guard Administration received reports of a large sea turtle seen entangled in discarded fishing nets and stranded on the beach at around 10:00 am. Coast Guard officers found the animal to be a leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), a species

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Man arrested for planting, detonating bomb that injured man in TSMC carpark

composite image showing carpark, injured man in ambulance and detonation device and remote control
Violent Crimes 
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A man suspected of manufacturing, planting, and detonating an improvised explosive device in the Hsinchu Science Park, injuring one person, was arrested today following a two-week-long investigation. At around 5:00 pm, January 14, a 37-year-old man, named Chen, working for an outsourcing company at the TSMC factory, finished work and was about to commute home on his motor scooter when he found an unknown package in the front console of the scooter. When Chen picked up the package it exploded

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Orangutan caught bullying barking deer at Hsinchu Zoo

orangutan swinging muntjac around by hind legs
Animals 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

Visitors to Hsinchu Zoo were shocked to see an orangutan swing a small deer around by the hind leg, and throw another deer from a height, yesterday, January 29. Video and photographs of the incident show the orangutan swinging the Reeve’s muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) in a wide arc, sometimes dragging it on the ground and hitting it against a tree trunk. Zoo administrators said that the two species had been living together for around one year without problems, and the

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The war on viruses: What’s that got to do with the price of eggs?

composite image showing laying hens and people queuing for eggs
Business and Economy 
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As Taiwan goes into the Lunar New Year holidays, people are facing empty egg shelves in some supermarkets, long queues at stores with supplies, and rising prices that have been capped as an emergency measure by the Council of Agriculture. Just as egg prices rise while supply falls, hundreds of thousands of chickens are being culled due to “bird flu.” But this seems to be the elephant in the room. Taiwan’s peak government agricultural authority, the Council of Agriculture, doesn’t

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Police student sentenced to 5-year prison term for importing marijuana

Central Police University and cannabis composite image
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , ,

A student of Taiwan’s Central Police University who was expelled and charged for importing marijuana by mail was handed a 5-year prison term by the Taoyuan District Court, today, January 27. According to an investigation by the Taoyuan District Prosecutor’s Office, the 20-year-old man, named Hsu, in collusion with a person identified only with the nickname “Duck,” conspired to import 200 grams of marijuana with the delivery address being Hsu’s home in Taoyuan District. On August 5, Taipei Customs officers

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Taiwanese white dolphin in critical danger of extinction: threats to habitat increasing

coast guard officers with dead dolphin
Animals Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Marine conservationists sounded a warning that the Taiwanese white dolphin is seriously threatened with extinction during a press conference held by environmental protection groups at the Legislative Yuan following the discovery of a dead dolphin on Taiwan’s west coast last week. Experts in the field of marine biology pointed out that there were only about 60 individuals left of the only subspecies of dolphin endemic to Taiwan (Sousa chinensis taiwanensis). After being first described in 2002, the Taiwanese white dolphin was

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