HUALIEN, TAIWAN (Worthy News) – At least nine people were killed, 900 injured, and dozens of buildings damaged in Taiwan’s most powerful earthquake in 25 years, authorities said Wednesday.
However, strict building regulations and widespread public disaster awareness appeared to have staved off an even more deadly catastrophe despite a quake shaking the democratically ruled island.
The quake, given a magnitude of 7.2 by Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency and 7.4 by the United States, struck close to Hualien, a city of nearly 100,000 popular with tourists on Taiwan’s eastern coast.
Besides those killed and injured Wednesday, dozens of buildings were damaged, prompting tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted, according to officials.
Footage obtained by Worthy News showed at least one multi-story building in Taiwan tilting but miraculously still standing after the quake hit at 7:58 am local time.
Rescue teams worked nearby and elsewhere as the quake damaged buildings and triggered landslides in several areas.
The fire department in Hualien County said that “two buildings had collapsed and some people are believed to be trapped,” including in Hualien.
DAMAGE SPREADING
In a televised national briefing, Taiwan’s National Fire Agency said 26 buildings were reported “to tilt or collapse,” confirming footage seen by Worthy News.
The fire agency also said 64 people were trapped in one coal mine, and six in another, while rescue workers had lost contact with 50 people who were traveling in minibuses through a national park as the earthquake wiped out phone networks.
Train lines were damaged, and schools and workplaces were closed across large areas of Hualien Taiwan’s electricity operator, Taipower, said more than 87,000 households were without electricity.
Witnesses said violent shaking was felt in Taipei, the capital, with aftershocks continuing throughout the day.
The city’s subway service was briefly suspended, and some offices and schools said they would send staff home for the day.
TSMC, Taiwan’s leading manufacturer of advanced chips, responsible for producing most of the world’s advanced semiconductors, also evacuated its production lines.
Global internet monitor Netblocks said that internet outages were being registered in parts of Taiwan after the quake.
JAPAN CONCERNED
Amid the destruction, Taiwanese officials warned of more tremors in the coming days.
“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 Center, in published remarks.
As the disaster unfolded, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his nation stood ready to provide any assistance necessary to Taiwan.
Kishida stressed that he was deeply saddened to hear about the earthquake and referred to Taiwan on social media as Japan’s “neighbor across the sea.”
No similar statements were observed from mainland China, which views Taiwan as its territory and hasn’t ruled out taking it by force.
Taiwanese authorities said the quake was “the strongest” since a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck in September 1999, killing around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island’s history.
Experts called the scale “exponential,” meaning each unit increase corresponds to about 31.6 times more energy released.
ATOMIC BOMB
The destructive power of earthquakes escalates dramatically with magnitude: a Level 5 quake is like the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb that destroyed the Japanese city in World War Two.
However, a Level 6 is comparable to ten such explosions.
The Level 7 releases energy equivalent to roughly 32 massive blasts, highlighting the sheer force of these seismic events, Worthy News learned.
The 7.4 earthquake in Taiwan is equivalent nearly 1,900,000 tons of TNT exploding.
Officials are closely monitoring developments as strong aftershocks persistently jolt the island country. Following the major earthquake, there have been 13 tremors with magnitudes over 5 on the Richter Scale, and a total of 28 quakes exceeding 4.7 in magnitude within the last 12 hours.
The over 7 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan prompted tsunami warnings on the island as well as southern Japan and northern Philippines.
“Please pray for us,” said Clarita Orfrecio, a farmer and mother of four speaking to Worthy News from near the Philippines’ Dingalan municipality at the Philippine Sea, a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. “We already had deadly tsunamis in the past when many died and I don’t want this to happen again” she said.
However, Japan and the Philippines said they have since lifted their warnings.
Yet Japan’s Meteorological Agency warned that aftershocks of similar intensity to those felt in Taiwan may be likely over the next week across the region.
