Taiwan’s biggest earthquake seen in 25 years has killed nine people. The earthquake which occurred on Wednesday, April 3, injured over 800 persons, and 50 people are now reported to be missing, on their way to a national park, according to official reports.
Meanwhile, rescuers have been hard at work, using ladders to bring others to safety.
News stations have been showing images of buildings tilted at dangerous angles in the mountainous, barely populated eastern county of Hualien, close to the epicenter of the 7.2 magnitude quake, which struck just offshore at about 8 a.m.
The earthquake had hit at a depth of 15.5 km (9.6 miles), at a time when people were headed for work and school, triggering off a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines.
Released video footage has shown rescuers using ladders to aid trapped people out of windows.
The strong tremors in Taipei compelled the subway system to close its services briefly, although most lines resumed service afterwards.
Fire authorities have reported on how they were gradually evacuating some of those stuck in tunnels near Hualien city, including two Germans.
But they had unfortunately lost contact with 50 travellers aboard four minibuses on their way to a hotel in a national park, Taroko Gorge,
The government put the number of injured at 821.
President-elect Lai Ching-te, has given while speaking outside one of the collapsed buildings in Hualien, in reaction to the natural disaster, emphasised that the most important thing at present was to rescue people.
In Japan, the weather agency had categorised the quake’s magnitude to be at 7.7, but the agency had demoted its tsunami warning to an advisory.
In the Philippines, seismology officials warned coastal residents in several provinces to reach higher grounds.
Chinese state media had claimed that the quake was felt in the southeastern province of Fujian.
Taiwan weather officials ranked the Wednesday’s quake in Hualien as an “Upper 6”, or the second-highest level of intensity on a scale that ranged from 1 to 7.
Such quakes were commonly known to fell walls unless they are made of reinforced concrete blocks, and during such occurrences, people cannot stand upright and they are forced to crawl in order to move.
