The death toll due to an earthquake that struck Taiwan on Wednesday has risen to nine, while 882 people have been injured, according to Taiwan’s National Fire Agency (NFA).
The NFA did not indicate the severity of the injuries.
Dozens trapped: 131 people are currently trapped, including 50 employees of the Silks Place Hotel Taroko, who were traveling in four minibuses. Authorities have been unable to reach them by phone, and have listed them as trapped for the time being.
Two German citizens who were trapped earlier in a tunnel in Hualien County have been rescued, the NFA added.
Hospitals across Taiwan’s capital, Taipei City, are operating normally despite being damaged by Wednesday’s earthquake, according to the Municipal Government.
At least seven hospitals in the city are reported to have suffered some structural damage including “fallen tiles, partially fallen ceilings, cracks in the wall and electricity outage,” according to a government statement.
It said only one hospital was still offline following the quake.
At least seven people have died after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on Wednesday.
About 77 are trapped or stranded, including four foreign nationals.
About 60 of those are trapped in the Jinwen Tunnel in northern Hualien County, Taiwan’s National Fire Agency (NFA) said.
Another 15 are trapped in the Dachingshui Tunnel, and two German nationals are trapped in a third tunnel.
If you’re just joining our coverage, here’s what we know:
- The quake: The earthquake hit at 7:58 a.m. local time, 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of the city of Hualien at a depth of 34.8 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey.
- Casualties: At least seven people have died in the earthquake. Of them, three were hiking when the quake struck.
- Structural damage: More than 100 buildings have been damaged, according to the National Fire Agency (NFA). Pictures show buildings tilted to one side, and collapsed onto the ground. About half of the damaged buildings are in Hualien County, the epicenter of the earthquake.
- Aftershocks: The quake was followed by several strong aftershocks, with tremors felt across the island, including in Taipei. Tremors as high as magnitude 7 are expected in the following days.
- Hualien County: The region where the quake struck, Hualien County, has a population of about 300,000, around 100,000 of whom live in the main city of Hualien. But many in the region live in remote coastal or mountain communities that can be hard to reach, so it might take time to understand the extent of Wednesday’s quake.
- Power cuts: More than 91,000 households were without electricity, according to Taiwan’s Central Emergency Command Center.
- Tsunami warnings: Tsunami warnings were issued across Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines in the wake of the earthquake, but have since been lifted. The warnings prompted airlines and airports to suspend flights.
About 60 of the approximately 77 people trapped after an earthquake struck Taiwan Wednesday are caught in the Jinwen Tunnel in northern Hualien County, Taiwan’s National Fire Agency (NFA) said.
Separately, 15 people are trapped in the Dachingshui Tunnel, also in northern Hualien County, NFA said, adding that two German nationals were trapped in a third tunnel.
At least seven people have died in the 7.4 magnitude quake.
Some background: The 400-meter Jinwen Tunnel is one of more than a dozen that thread the Suhua Highway, a treacherous and narrow road that runs for 118 kilometers (73 miles) along Taiwan’s eastern coast.
Winding along cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean, it is one of Taiwan’s most dangerous — yet most scenic — drives.
The highway, which connects Hualien with the north of Taiwan, has been closed after it suffered severe damage from landslides and fallen rocks in the quake.
Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy of about 23 million people, the vast majority of whom live in the capital Taipei and the cities that dot the heavily industrialized western coast.
Taipei has around 2.5 million inhabitants while the wider New Taipei City is home to a further 4 million people. The southern port city of Kaohsiung has 2.7 million residents.
In contrast, the eastern coast — where Wednesday’s quake struck — is much less populated.
The island is regularly rocked by earthquakes.
Here’s what to know about the epicenter: Hualien County has a population of about 300,000, around 100,000 of whom live in the main city of Hualien.
But many in the region live in remote coastal or mountain communities that can be hard to reach, so it might take time to understand the extent of Wednesday’s quake.
A magnitude 6.2 quake hit the area in 2018, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 300 others.
Taiwan’s global role: The small island is a major economy that has an outsized impact on global business and trade, mainly because of its world-beating chips industry.
It also lies at the center of geopolitical tensions.
China’s Communist Party has claimed the island as its territory, despite never having controlled it. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ramped up economic, political and military pressure on Taiwan and vowed to one day “reunify” the island, by force if necessary.
Taiwanese people have largely shrugged off that threat. Earlier this year, voters handed the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing loathes, a historic third consecutive presidency. Incumbent president Lai Ching-te will be inaugurated next month, replacing current president Tsai Ing-wen.
At least four foreign nationals are trapped in Taiwan after the island was hit by its most powerful earthquake in 25 years on Wednesday, according to the National Fire Agency (NFA).
Two Canadian citizens are among a dozen people trapped in Taroko Gorge, a popular tourist destination in Hualien County, the epicenter of the quake.
The 12 people are awaiting rescue on the Shakadang Trail, a popular walkway along turquoise water near the entrance of the famed marble-walled canyon, the NFA said.
Two German citizens are trapped in a tunnel on the Suhua highway on the island’s eastern coast, the NFA said. The highway was severely damaged in the earthquake and has been closed.
Winding along cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean, the Suhua Highway is known as one of Taiwan’s most dangerous — yet also the most scenic — drives. It’s the main highway connecting Hualien with the north of the island and dotted with natural attractions.
At least 77 people are trapped across Taiwan after a powerful earthquake struck the island’s eastern coast, according to the National Fire Agency (NFA).
Authorities did not elaborate on the condition of those trapped, but said that rescue operations were underway.
The 7.4 magnitude quake has killed four people and injured more than 700 others, according to NFA. Of those injured, 132 are in Hualien County, near the epicenter of the quake, the agency added.
