"Boobquake" Narrowly Misses Taiwan

As a followup to last Tuesday's post, Monday April 26th has arrived and brought with it a 6.5-magnitude earthquake that struck off the southeast coast of Taiwan. In response to the claim of an Iranian cleric that "immodesty" causes earthquakes, thousands of women had agreed to wear revealing clothing today in order to scientifically test this seemingly ludicrous hypothesis.

The 6.5-magnitude quake hit at 10:59 a.m. (0259 GMT), 195 miles (295 kilometers) off the southern Taiwan city of Taitung at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Survey said. The agency's initial report had put the quake's magnitude at 6.9.

Fortunately the quake struck far enough offshore that while its effects were felt on the island, no injuries or property damage have been reported. The quake also does not appear to have triggered a tsunami, another piece of good news.

In Taipei, buildings swayed for up to 20 seconds when the quake hit, but police said there were no reports of casualties or damage anywhere on the island. No tsunami alert was issued.

In northern Keelung county, 18 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of Taipei, the tremor caused little new damage at the site of a massive landslide, police said. On Sunday, a hillside collapsed onto a three-lane highway following several days of rain, burying three cars.

The article also notes that had the quake been larger and closer to shore the result could have been much worse.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan but most are minor and cause little or no damage.

However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.

So you never know, perhaps "immodesty" is more dangerous than any reasonable person had previously thought - or maybe it's just a big coincidence and the whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. As with most scientific puzzles, further research is probably necessary.