An earthquake of 4.6 magnitudes on Richer Scale hit Chiayi yesterday at 11:36a.m., causing the High Speed Rail(HSR) to suspend its service for one and a half hours, United Daily Evening News reported.

A group of 54 people from around Taiwan embarked on a two-day volunteer holiday last weekend on Alishan, Chiayi County to help clean up hiking paths and restore the ecological environment there in the wake of damage to the area by Typhoon Morakot in early August.

Two local chiefs in the county of Chiayi were convicted of rigging an election for the treasurer of a farmers' association and sentenced each to half a year in prison yesterday.

A 2-year-old toddler in Chiayi was reunited with her mother Saturday after being looked after by policemen in a police station for six days.

A female law clerk found herself in an unexpected confrontation with a cobra at the district court office yesterday in Chiayi City, local media reported.

Chiayi police are trying to find out who spray-painted graffiti on the old home of Tsai Shou-hsun, the presiding judge at the Taipei district court who convicted former President Chen Shui-bian of corruption and sentenced him to life in prison last Friday.

Typhoon Morakot could have changed the fate of the Alishan Forest Railway, one of the highest alpine railways in the world, once and for all.

Premier Wu Den-yih said yesterday a cable car relay is an option under favorable consideration to operate the seriously damaged Mount Ali loop railroad.

Driftwood around Hao-mei Township in Chiayi County is available to be collected starting from August 27 and continuing to September 26, the Chiayi Forest District Office announced yesterday.

Villagers in Chiayi County's Meishan township, who have been stranded for seven days since Typhoon Morakot, raised smoke signals yesterday in an attempt to attract attention and be evacuated.