Body of quake victim found in Hualien quarry

On the 11th day after Hualien County was hit by an earthquake which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, search and rescue workers recovered the body of a truck driver yesterday morning, with two other people still listed as missing.

The body of the truck driver was found in a quarry in the Ho Jen mining area of Sioulin Township (秀林) in Hualien at 11:45am yesterday.

After days of effort using heavy machinery to clear blocked routes, a search and rescue team reached the area where the body was on Friday, an officer from the Hualien County Fire Department said.

Yesterday, the team used the machinery to dig five meters down and found sandbags and the front of a white pickup truck, which was later identified by the employer as the vehicle driven by the missing driver, the officer said.

The driver’s body was recovered after the search and rescue team dug further, the officer added.

Meanwhile, a Singaporean couple believed to have been hiking the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) when the earthquake struck remains unaccounted for.

The search continued yesterday, with a search team entering the Shakadang waterfall area 2.4km from the start of the trail yesterday morning.

With the confirmation of the driver’s death, the official death toll from the Hualien earthquake on April 3 has risen to 17.

Separately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the Thai government on Friday for its NT$1 million (US$31,018) donation for earthquake relief.

In a statement, the ministry said it was informed by the Thailand Trade and Economic Office about the donation to the designated account established by Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Thanking Thailand for its offer to assist with reconstruction efforts in Hualien County, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it hoped the goodwill between the two countries could continue to grow and lay the groundwork for further international cooperation.

In a separate release yesterday, the ministry also extended thanks to Lithuania for announcing a donation of 50,000 euros (US$53,244) to assist in the postquake reconstruction.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on X that the donation demonstrates solidarity between the people of Lithuania and Taiwan.

In other news, Chiayi County experienced eight earthquakes from late Friday to yesterday morning, the the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that they are likely unconnected to the massive Hualien quake that struck on April 3, or the Meishan Fault.

From 11:43pm on Friday to 6:50am yesterday, Chiayi was hit by a total of eight earthquakes, a tremblor measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale being the most powerful, with its epicenter in Budai Township (布袋), 14.5km southwest of Chiayi County Hall, the CWA said.

CWA Seismological Center director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) said the CWA believes the earthquakes in Chiayi were not related to the Meishan Fault and are also separate from the Hualien earthquake.

An earthquake is likely to occur where plates collide, Wu said, adding that these quakes were relatively far from the Meishan Fault and are therefore unlikely to be related to the fault.

It is possible that there would be more earthquakes in the coming days, but the magnitude is expected to be limited, he said, while urging the public to take precautions as Taiwan is an earthquakeprone island.

After the earthquake in Hualien County on April 3, there have been concerns that it could trigger strong temblors in other parts of the country.

One area of particular concern is Chiayi County, where the Meishan Fault — which has reached its once-in-a-century activity cycle — is located.

The Chiayi area has experienced 23 quakes since the beginning of the year, 19 of which were this month, CWA statistics show.