Taiwan is to donate ￥60 million (US$416,102) to Japan for earthquake rescue and relief efforts, and is to open disaster relief accounts to receive donations starting today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula of Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture on Monday afternoon, followed by multiple aftershocks.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) announced the donation to assist the Japanese government in its rescue and post-disaster reconstruction work in the hope that the people affected would be able to return to normal life as soon as possible.