The sight of masses of earthworms crawling out of the ground in a Taiwanese city sparked panic among the population who now fear another devastating earthquake may soon strike the island. There was a swarm of earthquake activity on the island republic during the weekend. While there were no reports of injuries or damage from any of the tremors, widespread fears of an impending temblor began circulating after residents in the western city of Hsinchu reported seeing thousands of earthworms crawling out of the earth during the past several days.

A magnitude 4.5 quake struck the mountainous region of central Taiwan on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. local time, several days following an earthquake that killed three people. Seismologists reported that Saturday's tremor was centered 10 miles east of Sun Moon Lake.

On Sunday, a magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 12 miles south of the city of Taichung at 1:28 a.m. It was followed a half hour later by a magnitude 4.3 tremor.

Taichung is located about 81 miles south of the capital Taipei.