Rescue teams are trying to reach more than 100 people trapped in mining areas and a national park after the strongest earthquake in decades hit Taiwan, killing at least 10 and injuring about 1,000 people.
Search efforts around the worst-hit city of Hualien on the east coast have been hampered by more than 50 aftershocks recorded since the quake struck on Wednesday morning, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. More are predicted over the next four days, with magnitudes of between 6.5 and 7.
About 80 people are believed to be trapped in mining areas. Dramatic video released on Thursday by the island’s Central Emergency Operation Centre showed a helicopter flying two sorties to pluck six miners trapped in a gypsum quarry in Hualien county, near the epicentre of the earthquake.
Rescuers knew the whereabouts of dozens more people trapped in a network of strongly built tunnels in the county, a feature of the roads that cut through the scenic mountains and cliffs leading to Hualien City from the north and west.
“I also hope that we can use today’s time to find all people who are stranded and unaccounted for and help them settle down,” Premier Chen Chien-jen said after a briefing at an emergency operation centre in Hualien.
About 50 hotel workers are believed to have become stranded in Taroko national park after their convoy of four minibuses became trapped on a mountain road by a landslide. Mobile phone signals suggest they may have taken refuge in the Jiuqiu cave system, local reports said, and rescue teams are now trying to clear the road to reach them. Local media reported that four of the deaths – three hikers and one driver – occurred in the park after rockslides.
Firefighters in Hualien took 13 hours to put out a chemical blaze at a university laboratory that started after the quake struck.
One dramatic video that circulated on social media showed a boulder falling directly onto a car. The driver later posted on social media that he had “almost died” but had narrowly avoided being crushed.
Taiwan is still assessing the aftermath of the quake – given a magnitude of 7.2 by its earthquake monitoring agency, 7.4 by the US and 7.7 by Japan – which struck near Hualien, a city popular with tourists on Taiwan’s eastern coast, damaging buildings and trapping people amid dozens of aftershocks. It is Taiwan’s strongest since 1999, when a 7.6-magnitude quake 93 miles (150km) south of Taipei killed 2,400 and injured 10,000.
As darkness fell on Wednesday, hundreds of people were spending the night in tents and other shelters. Meanwhile scores of emergency workers were trying to shore up damaged buildings and demolish those deemed impossible to save.
“I’m afraid of aftershocks, and I don’t know how bad the shaking will be,” a 52-year-old Hualien resident, who gave her family name as Yu, said as she made her way to a shelter.
A woman who runs bed-and-breakfast accommodation in Hualien city said she scrambled to calm her guests. “This is the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only by her family name, Chan.
President-elect Lai Ching-te visited Hualien to see the damage at the city close to the epicentre of the quake. “At present the most important thing, the top priority, is to rescue people,” he said at the scene.
On Wednesday, Taiwan’s foreign affairs ministry criticised China’s offer of disaster assistance while also continuing its long-running campaign of sending military planes and vessels close to Taiwan.
The #PRC/#CCP cohort is good at saying one thing & doing the opposite. Their #TaiwanAffairsOffice expressed condolences & offered to help after the quake. Well, am I supposed to be choked & speechless? 😠 JW https://t.co/JDucFzsD7e
— 外交部 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MOFA_Taiwan) April 4, 2024
In Hualien, the city’s mayor, Hsu Chen-Wei, said all residents and businesses in buildings that were in a dangerous state had been evacuated and that demolition work was beginning on four buildings.
The earthquake hit at a depth of just 15.5km (9.6 miles), as people were headed for work and school, setting off a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted. Chinese state media said the quake was felt in the south-eastern province of Fujian, while a Reuters witness said it was also felt in the commercial hub of Shanghai.
However, a quake alert was not issued across Taiwan, and officials are investigating why, weather officials said.
Taiwan’s air force said six F-16 fighter jets had been slightly damaged at a major base in the city from which jets are often scrambled to see off incursions by China’s air force, but the aircraft are expected to return to service very soon.
A major supplier of chips to Apple and Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, or TSMC, said it had evacuated some fabrication plants and that safety systems were operating normally. Nvidia said it expected no supply disruptions from the earthquake.
It said later its workers were safe and had returned to their workplaces shortly after the earthquake. It said affected facilities were expected to resume production on Wednesday night.
The White House said the US was ready to provide any help needed. “The United States stands ready to provide any necessary assistance. All those affected are in our prayers,” a statement from national security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.
Additional research by Chi Hui Lin