The earthquake caused the giant ribber duck to deflate (Picture: BBC/YouTube)

There have been calls for a ten-second silence after an earthquake caused a giant rubber duck to deflate.

The 18m-high artwork by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman has toured the world this year but was damaged when a 6.3-magnitude quake struck Taiwan on Thursday.

The duck began to deflate after a power cut caused its air pump to fail.

The rubber duck was previously damaged in Hong Kong (Picture: Reuters)

Some onlookers were reportedly so upset by the incident they asked for a ten-second silence to honour the much-loved duck.


Officials will be confident of re-inflating the duck having done so already when it was stationed in Hong Kong.

The duck has travelled around the world (Picture: Reuters)

On that occasion pollution and vandalism were floated as reasons for the duck’s deflation.



The Taiwanese quake appears to be the first time a natural phenomenon has been to blame for the duck’s demise.