Earthquakes force closure of major trails in Taroko

According to the Central Weather Bureau, earthquakes have struck along the seashore of Hualien County's Hoping area intermittently since early Sunday morning.

As of noon Monday, 54 earthquakes strong enough to be felt had been recorded, with the strongest one reaching 5.6 on the open-ended Richter scale, the bureau's Seismology Center said.

As Taroko National Park, one of Taiwan's most popular tourist attractions, is located near the quake zone, rocks have fallen sporadically along several trails in the park, rangers said.

The falling rocks have not caused any injuries or casualties, but the Taroko National Park Administration has ordered the closure of the park's four major trails — Jhueilu Historic Trail, Changchun Shrine Trail, Skadang Trail and Yanzikou (Swallow Grotto) Trail — as a precautionary measure.

"The shutdown will remain valid for two days until the end of Tuesday," a park administrator said, adding that whether the order will be extended will depend on the situation.

"The trails will not be re-opened until after the seismic situation stabilizes, and we hope travelers will observe the ban out of concern for their own safety," he urged.

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