9 dead in Taiwan earthquake, injuries top 1,000; 38 hotel workers missing

As many as nine people have died after Taiwan was hit by the strongest earthquake in 25 years of 7.4 magnitude on Wednesday.

The number of injured has now surpassed 1,000, with nearly a dozen hotel workers located and 38 still missing. The earthquake struck just before 8 am (local time) and centred off the coast of rural, mountainous Hualien County as people were readying to go to work or school. In Hualien, buildings inclined at dangerous angles and ground floors crushed, while in the capital Taipei, buildings shook violently and tiles from older buildings fell.

Rescuers rushed to Hualien looking for people who may have been trapped and used excavators to stabilise the damaged buildings. The number of people missing, trapped or stranded fluctuated as authorities learnt of more people in trouble and worked to locate or free them.

Around 70 workers who were trapped at two rock quarries were safe, news agency Reuters reported, citing Taiwan’s fire agency. However, the roads to reach them were damaged due to falling rocks. Six workers are to be airlifted today.

The fire department said its rescue work was focused on people trapped on the cross-island highway, which crosses the gorge connecting Hualien with Taiwan’s west coast and is a popular tourist destination. Authorities are using drones and helicopters to look for people in the gorge and will drop supplies to them when they are located.

On Thursday morning (local time), a helicopter rescued six people who were trapped in a mining area, Taiwan’s fire department said. Meanwhile, the railway line to Hualien also re-opened on Thursday, although one rural station north of Hualien city remains closed due to damage, the railway administration said.

Taiwan and its surrounding waters have registered about 2,000 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater since 1980, and more than 100 earthquakes with a magnitude above 5.5, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The island nation’s worst earthquake was on September 21, 1999, with a 7.7 magnitude, which caused 2,400 deaths, wounded around 100,000 people, and destroyed thousands of buildings.