Strong earthquake strikes Taiwan, injures more than 900 people
Updated April 3, 2024 — 5.56pm
Taipei: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan on Wednesday, the strongest tremor to hit the island in at least 25 years, killing nine people, injuring hundreds and sparking a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.
Nine people died in the quake, which struck just before 8am (11am AEDT), Taiwan’s national fire agency said. The local United Daily News reported that three hikers were killed in rockslides in Taroko National Park in Hualien, and a van driver died in the same area when boulders hit the vehicle.
Another 934 people were injured. Meanwhile, authorities said they had lost contact with 50 people in minibuses in the national park after the quake downed phone networks. Another six people were trapped in a coal mine, where a rescue was under way.
The quake and aftershocks also caused 24 landslides and damage to 35 roads, bridges and tunnels.
At least 26 buildings collapsed, more than half in Hualien. Some 22 people were rescued from one of the most damaged buildings.
Taiwanese television stations showed footage of buildings at precarious angles in Hualien, where the quake struck just offshore as people were going to work and school.
It was felt in the capital, Taipei, and also in Japan and in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Ningde in China’s Fujian province.
A search and rescue team prepares outside a leaning building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Hualien, eastern Taiwan, on Wednesday.Credit: National Fire Agency/AP
The quake had a depth of 15.5 kilometres, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration. The US Geological Survey put it at 35 kilometres.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said the earthquake registered the second-highest intensity of an “upper 6” in Hualien county, on the 1-7 intensity scale. The USGS put the magnitude at 7.5, then revised it to 7.4.
Authorities said they had only expected a relatively mild quake of magnitude 4 and accordingly did not send out alerts.
It reported a second tremor of magnitude 6.5 hit nearby, 11 kilometres north-east of the Hualien city.
In an upper 6 earthquake, most unenforced concrete-block walls collapse and people find it impossible to remain standing or move without crawling, the Japan Meteorological Agency says.
The agency put the first earthquake’s magnitude at 7.7. It said several small tsunami waves had reached parts of the southern prefecture of Okinawa, but it later downgraded the earlier tsunami warning to an advisory.
The Philippines Seismology Agency also issued a warning for residents in coastal areas of several provinces, urging them to evacuate to higher ground.
An elevated track for the Taipei Metro was damaged in an earthquake off Taiwan on Wednesday.Credit: Bloomberg
Taiwan also issued a tsunami warning but reported no damage from that, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii later said the risk of damaging tsunami waves had largely passed.
Aftershocks could still be felt in Taipei, according to a witness, with more than 25 aftershocks registered in the hours after the quake, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration.
Chinese state media said the quake was felt in China’s Fujian province, while a witness said it was also felt in Shanghai.
The Taipei city government said it had not received any reports of major damage and the city’s MRT was up and running soon after the tremor, while electricity operator Taipower said more than 87,000 households in Taiwan were still without power. Taiwan’s two nuclear power stations were not affected, Taipower added.
Taiwan’s high-speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were reported on its trains, but noted trains would be delayed while it carried out inspections.
Semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said it had evacuated some plants and its safety systems were operating normally.
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Taiwan’s official central news agency said the quake was the biggest to hit the island since 1999 when a 7.6 magnitude tremor killed about 2400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings in one of Taiwan’s worst-recorded quakes.
Reuters, AP
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