Death toll rising in strong Taiwan quake
A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan early yesterday, killing seven people and injuring hundreds in the strongest tremor to hit the island in at least 25 years.
Three people among a group of seven on an early-morning hike were crushed to death by boulders loosened by the earthquake, officials said.
Separately, a truck driver died when his vehicle was hit by a landslide as it approached a tunnel in the area.
The deaths all occurred in Hualien county, the epicentre of the quake.
The earthquake, which struck at 7.58am local time, was felt as far away as Shanghai, China, and reportedly triggered a landslide in eastern Taiwan.
Officials said the quake and series of aftershocks was the strongest to shake the island in decades and warned of more tremors in the days ahead.
“The earthquake is close to land and it’s shallow. It’s felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands,” said Wu Chien-fu, director of Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Centre.
More than 711 people were injured and thousands were urged to evacuate. Several buildings had collapsed, more than half in Hualien, with about 77 people trapped and rescue work ongoing
Television images showed homes and offices in Hualien shaken off their foundations, while Taiwan’s electricity operator said 87,000 people across the country were without power.
The quake caused a tsunami, which had been predicted to be up to 3 metres high and was expected to reach Japan’s southwestern Okinawa coast.
An alert was issued for the coastal areas of Japan near Okinawa, with residents told to leave urgently. The waves that arrived were not as high as forecast, and the alert was downgraded to an advisory, though officials still encouraged locals to stay away.
A tsunami of about 0.3 metres reached Yonaguni Island, in south-west Japan.
A banner on Japanese national broadcaster NHK had told viewers to “Evacuate!”
“Tsunami is coming. Please evacuate immediately,” an anchor said. “Do not stop. Do not go back.”
The Philippines also issued a tsunami alert to residents on its northern coast, warning 23 provinces that “high tsunami waves” were expected. Japan’s meteorological agency described the earthquake as being very shallow, which can cause significant damage. It was measured at a magnitude of about 7.2 but this was later revised to 7.4. Some reports referred to it as magnitude 7.7.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake’s epicentre was 18km south of Taiwan’s Hualien City.
Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes because the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates. The earthquake was “the strongest in 25 years”, according to Wu Chien-fu, the director of Taipei’s Seismology Centre. referring to a 7.6-magnitude quake that hit Taiwan in September 1999, killing around 2400 people.
In the capital of Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings and within some newer office complexes during an aftershock.
The world’s largest producer of advanced chips, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, evacuated some factory areas.
Train services were initially suspended across the island of 23 million people, as was Taipei’s subway service. But things soon returned to normal in the capital, with children going to school and the morning commute appearing normal.