Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years kills nine; 50 missing
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[April 03, 2024]
By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's biggest earthquake in at least 25 years
killed nine people on Wednesday, injuring more than 800, while 50 went
missing en route to a national park, authorities said, as rescuers used
ladders to bring others to safety.
Television broadcast images of buildings tilted at precarious angles in
the mountainous, sparsely populated eastern county of Hualien, near the
epicentre of the 7.2 magnitude quake, which struck just offshore at
about 8 a. m. (0000GMT).
"It was very strong. It felt as if the house was going to topple," said
Chang Yu-lin, 60, a worker in a hospital in Taipei, the capital.
A woman who runs bed-and-breakfast accommodation in Hualien city said
she scrambled to calm her guests who were frightened by the quake.
"This is the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced," said the
woman, who asked to be identified only by her family name, Chan.
The quake hit at a depth of 15.5 km (9.6 miles), just as people were
headed for work and school, setting off a tsunami warning for southern
Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.
Video showed rescuers using ladders to help trapped people out of
windows, while elsewhere there were massive landslides, as strong
tremors in Taipei forced the subway system to close briefly, although
most lines resumed service.
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Fire authorities said they were slowly evacuating some of those trapped
in tunnels near Hualien city, including two Germans.
But they had lost contact with 50 travellers aboard four minibuses
heading to a hotel in a national park, Taroko Gorge, they said, without
giving details.
The government put the number of injured at 821.
"At present the most important thing, the top priority, is to rescue
people," said President-elect Lai Ching-te, speaking outside one of the
collapsed buildings in Hualien.
The rail link to the area was expected to re-open on Thursday, Lai, who
is set to take office next month, told reporters.
Taiwan's air force said six F-16 fighter jets had been slightly damaged
at a major base in the city from which jets are often scrambled to see
off incursions by China's air force, but the aircraft are expected to
return to service very soon.
In Japan, the weather agency put the quake's magnitude at 7.7, saying
several small tsunami waves reached parts of the southern prefecture of
Okinawa, while downgrading its tsunami warning to an advisory.
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Firefighters work at the site of a collapsed building in Hualien,
April 3, 2024. Taiwan National Fire Agency/Handout
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In the Philippines, seismology officials warned coastal residents in
several provinces to move to higher ground.
Chinese state media said the quake was felt in the southeastern
province of Fujian, while a Reuters witness said it was also felt in
the commercial hub of Shanghai.
Aftershocks could still be felt in Taipei, with more than 50
recorded, weather officials said.
Most power has been restored after the quake, electricity utility
Taipower said, with the island's two nuclear power stations
unaffected.
Taiwan's high-speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were
reported on its trains, although services would be delayed as it
made inspections.
A major supplier of chips to Apple and Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co, said it had evacuated some fabrication plants and
safety systems were operating normally.
"To ensure the safety of personnel, some fabs were evacuated
according to company procedure," the semiconductor giant said in a
statement, adding later that the employees had begun to return to
work.
TSMC's Taipei-listed shares ended down 1.3%, but the benchmark index
largely brushed off the quake's impact to close down 0.6%.
The official central news agency said the quake was the biggest
since one of magnitude 7.6 in 1999 that killed about 2,400 people
and damaged or destroyed 50,000 buildings.
Taiwan weather officials ranked Wednesday's quake in Hualien as
"Upper 6", or the second-highest level of intensity on a scale
ranging from 1 to 7.
Such quakes collapse walls unless they are made of reinforced
concrete blocks, while people cannot stand upright and must crawl in
order to move, experts say.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Yimou Lee, Shanghai and Hong Kong
newsrooms; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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