UPDATE: 18 09 2022: 6:37 p.m.: The mother-daughter pair has been rescued from the fallen building. Over 400 tourists are reportedly trapped on Chikeshan and Sixty Stone Mountain after rockfalls blocked roads; authorities are currently working to clear the path.
UPDATE: 18 09 2022: 5:24 p.m.: CNA reported that two, a 70-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳) and his 63-year-old wife, have been rescued from the fallen building in Yuli. A 39-year-old woman surnamed Yeh (葉) and her five-year-old daughter await rescue.
Additionally, three people had fallen off the Gaoloai Bridge when it collapsed. They have been rescued and sent to the hospital and are reportedly conscious.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 18) following a series of 76 other quakes that began on Saturday evening (Sept. 19), netizens in Taiwan took to social media to share images of the aftermath.
Dust can be seen billowing after a building in Yuli collapsed. (Facebook, Chang Kao video)
In a video posted to the Baofei Commune Facebook Group by a user named Chang Kao (張高), a cloud of smoke can be seen in the street coming from a fallen building reportedly in Yuli, Hualien County. The building appeared to be three stories tall, with a 7-Eleven on the first floor.
CNA reported that when the building fell, four 7-Eleven clerks escaped the store, but four other people were trapped. When first responders arrived, they saved one person and heard two others responding to their calls.
The Gaoliao Bridge completely collapsed. (CNA photo)
Two videos showed the Gaoliao Bridge completely collapsed. The individual who took the video could be heard worrying about cars that had driven onto the collapsed section just before the earthquake struck.
Another photo in the post showed a train derailed and a collapsed roof at Dongli Station. The roof fell on top of the Tze-chiang 420 train, from which 20 passengers exited safely, CNA cited the Taiwan Railways Administration as saying.
A train is derailed and a roof collapsed at the Dongli Station. (CNA photo)
Tremor de terra em Taiwan pic.twitter.com/v0zl8AeuF6
— joao paulo (@joaopau82561213) September 18, 2022
Video shows a train shaking violently during an earthquake. (Twitter, joao paulo video)
In another video taken at the intersection of provincial highways 9 and 30, cars can be seen stuck on the road due to the deformed surface. Photos taken all around Yuli showed similar damage.
Additionally, Hualien County Magistrate candidate Kolas Yotaka shared photos taken at the Chun-Rih Elementary School showing a two-story corridor resting on the ground with completely snapped columns. A commenter wrote that thankfully the earthquakes occurred over the weekend when the school was empty.
In Taoyuan, the entire ceiling above the Bade Civil Sports Center’s badminton court crashed to the floor. The sports center operator had just announced on Saturday it had finished installing lights at the venue.
Chun-Rih Elementary School suffered severe damages. (Facebook, Kolas Yotaka photo)
The ceiling crashed to the floor at the Taoyuan Bade Civil Sports Center. (Facebook, Chen I-long photo)
The Central Weather Bureau Seismological Center head Chen Kuo-chang (陳國昌) said the series of 76 earthquakes that began on Saturday evening were leading up to the temblor that occurred at 2:44 p.m. Sunday, which was the largest quake to hit Taiwan this year. As of 4:40 p.m., 20 aftershocks have struck in Taitung and Hualien.
CNA reported Sunday afternoon that the National Fire Agency would open a central disaster response center at 4 p.m. It also recalled all Special Search and Rescue Team members to prepare for missions.
A man can be heard worrying about cars that were on the collapsed Gaoliao Bridge. (Facebook, Chang Kao video)
Cars are stuck on the road due to surface distortion. (Facebook, Chang Kao video)
