A strong earthquake in Taiwan caused scores of structures to be damaged, at least seven fatalities, and roughly 730 injuries on Wednesday. The earthquake also sparked tsunami warnings that extended to the Philippines and Japan before being lifted. According to officials, there will likely be further tremors in the coming days. They described the earthquake as the largest to strike the island in decades.
The Strongest Earthquake
Wu Chien-fu, director of Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Center, said the earthquake was close to land and shallow. He also shared that the quake was felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands. The island, which is regularly hit by earthquakes because of its position near two tectonic plates, was averted due to strict building regulations and disaster awareness.
Wu stated that the earthquake was the strongest since September 1999, when a 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed almost 2,400 people in the greatest natural disaster in the history of the island. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that the epicenter of Wednesday’s magnitude 7.4 earthquake was 34.8 kilometers deep and located 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of Hualien City, Taiwan. The earthquake occurred just before 8:00 a.m. local time.
Authorities shared they didn’t send alert messages as they expected a relatively mild earthquake of magnitude 4. However, the earthquake was strong enough, which was able to scare the people who were used to the repeated mild earthquakes.
Hsien-hsuen Keng, a resident who lives in a fifth-floor apartment in Taipei, shared that even though he was used to the earthquakes that commonly occurred, the last earthquake was strong enough to scare him to tears for the first time. A guest at a hotel in Taipei, Kelvin Hwang, said that the earthquake was so strong that he wanted to run out. He took cover in the ninth-floor elevator lobby.
Shared videos and pictures of buildings trembling around the nation went viral on social media as soon as the earthquake occurred. The visuals of multi-stored buildings in Hualien and other places tilting to the ground were broadcast on television. Local TV stations featured bulldozers removing rocks from the highways leading to Hualien, a seaside city surrounded by mountains and home to some 100,000 people before landslides cut it off.
Together with a call for coordination between regional and national government institutions, President Tsai Ing-wen announced that the national army would also lend support. In addition to confirming the death toll, the National Fire Agency stated that roughly sixty people had gotten medical attention for injuries they had acquired during the earthquake.
The Effects Of The Earthquake
According to officials, three members of a group of seven who were hiking in the surrounding hills early in the morning were crushed to death by boulders loosened by the earthquake. Separately, a truck driver lost his life when a landslide struck his truck as it approached a nearby tunnel.
Minor damage also occurred to the national legislature, a pre-World War II school, and parts of Taoyuan’s primary airport, located just south of Taipei. Following the earthquake, traffic along the east coast almost stopped completely as landslides and falling debris struck hilly tunnels and roadways. The 23 million-person island’s train and metro services were interrupted, and a recently built above-ground line in Taipei partially separated.
A tsunami warning was initially issued by authorities in Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines; however, by approximately 10 a.m., the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center declared that the threat had “largely passed”. The local borough leaders issued warnings to citizens to check for any gas leaks. Located near the meeting point of two tectonic plates, Taiwan is frequently stuck by earthquakes. Also, Japan, located to the north, receives about 1500 shockwaves annually.
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Social media users in China’s eastern Fujian province, which borders Guangdong in the south, and other places mentioned experiencing powerful earthquakes across the Taiwan Strait. Hong Kong locals also claimed to have felt the earthquake.