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Firefighters work at the site where a building collapsed following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan, in this handout provided by Taiwan’s National Fire Agency on April 3, 2024. Photo: Taiwan National Fire Agency via Reuters
Taiwan’s national fire agency says authorities have lost contact with 50 people in minibuses after a powerful earthquake downed phone networks.
More than 70 other people are trapped but believed to be alive, some in a coal mine.
Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century rocked the island during the morning rush hour, damaging buildings and highways and leaving seven people dead.
In pictures | Taiwan rocked by strongest earthquake in nearly 25 years
Firefighters work at the site where a building collapsed following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan, in this handout provided by Taiwan’s National Fire Agency on April 3, 2024.
In this photo released by the Hualien City Government, government workers and journalists are seen near firefighters working near a leaning building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on April 3, 2024.
In this image taken from a video footage run by TVBS, residents rescue a child from a partially collapsed building in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on April 3, 2024.
This photo taken by Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) on April 3, 2024 shows people looking at a damaged building in Hualien, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan’s east.
In this image taken from a video footage run by TVBS, a partially collapsed building is seen in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on April 3, 2024.
This screengrab taken from video footage captured by an onlooker shows rockfall from a mountain near Kanan bridge in Hualien county on April 3, 2024 after a major earthquake hit Taiwan’s east.
This photo taken by Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) on April 3, 2024 shows emergency workers attending to a survivor, who had been trapped in a damaged building, in New Taipei City, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan’s east.
Passengers wait to board a south bound train as some train services were suspended in the aftermath of an earthquake in Taipei, Taiwan on April 3, 2024.
This photo taken by Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) on April 3, 2024 shows damage to buildings in Xindian district of New Taipei City, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan’s east.
This photo taken by Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) on April 3, 2024 shows a barricade erected around debris in the compound of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei after a major earthquake hit Taiwan’s east.
This photo taken by Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) on April 3, 2024 shows emergency workers working to locate survivors from a damaged building in New Taipei City, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan’s east.
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In the capital, Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings as the earthquake shook the city, and schools evacuated their students to sports fields, equipping them with yellow safety helmets. Some children covered themselves with textbooks to guard against falling objects as aftershocks continued.
Afterward, a five-storey building in Hualien County, near the offshore epicentre, was left leaning at a 45-degree angle, with its first floor collapsed.
Taiwan’s national fire agency said seven people died in the quake, which struck just before 8 a.m. The local United Daily News reported three hikers died in rockslides in Taroko National Park and a van driver died in the same area after boulders hit the vehicle.
In this image taken from a video footage run by TVBS, a partially collapsed building is seen in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Government statistics showed 736 people were injured and 77 stranded. The quake and aftershocks also caused 24 landslides and damage to 35 roads, bridges and tunnels.
Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency said the quake was 7.2 magnitude while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.4. It struck about 18 kilometres (11.1 miles) south-southwest of Hualien and was about 35 kilometres (21 miles) deep. Multiple aftershocks followed, and the USGS said one of the subsequent quakes was 6.5 magnitude and 11.8 kilometres (7 miles) deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more surface damage. The earthquake triggered a tsunami warning that was later lifted.
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