Strongest earthquake in 25 years rocks Taiwan, killing 9 people
The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century rocked Taiwan on Wednesday, killing nine people and sending others scrambling out the windows of damaged buildings.
A tsunami warning was triggered but later lifted.
According to the Associated Press, the quake, which also injured hundreds, was centred off the coast of rural, mountainous Hualien County, where some buildings leaned at severe angles, their ground floors crushed.
“Just over 150 kilometres (93 miles) away in the capital of Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings, and schools evacuated their students to sports fields, equipping them with yellow safety helmets. Some children covered themselves with textbooks to guard against falling objects as aftershocks continued,” AP’s report read.
Nine people died in the quake, which struck just before 8 AM, according to Taiwan’s national fire agency. Another 934 people were injured.
Meanwhile, authorities said they had lost contact with 50 people in minibuses in the national park after the quake downed phone networks.
Another six people were trapped in a coal mine, where a rescue was underway.
Hualien was last struck by a deadly quake in 2018 that killed 17 people and brought down a historic hotel. Taiwan’s worst quake in recent years struck on September 21, 1999, with a magnitude of 7.7, causing 2,400 deaths, injuring around 100,000 and destroying thousands of buildings.