HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) – Rescuers searched for missing people left stranded Thursday when Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years sent rocks and mud rolling down mountainsides and blocking roads. Rescue operations were carried out for hundreds of people. Ten people were killed and more than 1,000 injured.
The previous day, a strong earthquake occurred during the morning rush hour, sending schoolchildren running outside and families evacuating through apartment windows. The ground floors of several buildings collapsed and were left leaning at precarious angles. Earthquakes occur regularly on the island and are generally well prepared, but authorities did not issue the usual warning because they were expecting a smaller quake.
Approximately 200 residents of Hualien County, near the epicenter, are staying in temporary evacuation centers, and the main road connecting the county to the capital Taipei remained closed Thursday afternoon, but much of Taiwan's daily life continues as normal. I'm back. Part of the local rail service to Hualien has reopened, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., one of the world's most important computer chip makers, has also resumed most operations, the Central News Agency reported.
Nearly 1,100 people were injured in the earthquake. At least four of the 10 people died in Taroko National Park, a tourist destination known for its canyons and cliffs in the mountains of Hualien, about 150 kilometers from Taipei. One person was found dead in a damaged building, and the other was found in Whalen Quarry. Rescuers also removed the body of a man with severe head injuries from the hiking trail.
Hundreds of people were stranded as roads to hotels, campsites and work sites were blocked by rocks and mud, but most made it to safety while awaiting rescue. It was unclear as of Thursday whether anyone was still trapped inside the building.
Construction worker Liu Zhongda (58) and his colleagues were in a tunnel on their way to work on a road in a national park when the earthquake struck. A rock blocked their exit, trapping them along with several others.
“It almost got swept under the rug,” Liu said. “Communication (with the outside world) was not possible.” Mr Liu and his colleague were rescued on Thursday afternoon and underwent a brief medical examination outside the park.
Approximately 60 workers who were unable to leave the quarry due to road damage were also freed, authorities said. Six workers were airlifted from another quarry.
Approximately 700 people remain uncontacted, the majority of them employees and guests of hotels in the national park. Officials said they were safe, had food and water, and that work to repair the road to the hotel was nearly complete. Ten other employees from the same hotel were also stranded elsewhere in the park, but most of the other employees in the group were rescued or managed to get out.
Authorities said they could not contact about 15 people and their condition was unknown. That number fluctuates frequently as authorities learn more people are in trouble and rescue others.
In Hualien City on Thursday, workers used excavators to stabilize the foundations of damaged buildings as chickens pecked through potted plants on severely slanted flat roofs.
Mayor Su Cheng Wei previously said 48 homes were damaged in the quake. Hendry Strysno, 30, a professor at Hualien Donghua University, spent Wednesday night in a tent inside the evacuation center with his wife and baby, fearing aftershocks.
“We ran out of the apartment, waited for four or five hours, and then went up again to retrieve our wallets and other important things. We have been staying here ever since to assess the situation.” he said.
Some said they did not dare to return home because their apartment walls had cracks or they lived on high floors. Taiwanese Prime Minister Chen Chien-ren visited several earthquake evacuees in temporary evacuation centers this morning.
The earthquake was the strongest to hit Taiwan in 25 years, and was measured by the U.S. Geological Survey as a magnitude 7.4.
Mr. Huang Xiaoen was in his apartment when the earthquake occurred. “At first the building was shaking from side to side, then up and down,” she said.
The Central Meteorological Bureau recorded more than 400 aftershocks from Wednesday morning to Thursday night. The National Assembly Building and parts of Taipei's main airport sustained minor damage.
Hualien was last hit by a deadly earthquake in 2018, killing 17 people and destroying a historic hotel. Taiwan's worst recent earthquake occurred on September 21, 1999, when a magnitude 7.7 quake killed 2,400 people, injured approximately 100,000, and destroyed thousands of buildings.
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This story has been corrected to say that Huang was in “her” apartment, not “his”.
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Leung reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press video journalist Taijing Wu contributed to this report.
