TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The death toll following the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Taiwan on Wednesday (April 3) has risen to seven, while 77 remain trapped and over 730 people are believed to be injured.
The east coast county of Hualien bore the brunt of the strongest earthquake to have hit Taiwan in 25 years, and the majority of deaths and injuries occurred there. CNA reported that three people died on the Dekalun Trail in Hualien’s mountainous Taroko National Park, where many landslides and rockfalls occurred.
A woman said to be a teacher died in the eight-story Da-wang-hsing Building (天王星大樓) that partially collapsed in Hualien, and her body was found at around 2 p.m. A further 23 people were rescued from the building, four of whom were injured.
Hualien fire and police agencies said one person died while on Taroko National Park’s Provincial Route 8, another died in the parking lot of the Huide Tunnel highway connecting Su’ao and Hualien. One other person died in a Hualien cement mine.
In Taichung large rock falls occurred on the road going inland after Guguan Inspection Station (中橫便道) and 21 people were trapped in their cars. By about 1.30 p.m 15 people had been rescued and six people remained trapped.
Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has traveled to Hualien to survey the damage, and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is overseeing operations at the Central Emergency Operation Center in Taipei.
In New Taipei a warehouse in Zhonghe District collapsed and one man had to be rescued, though there were no injuries. In Xindian District 13 people were evacuated from eight households after a large subsidence near the foundations of some buildings, but again no one was injured.
About one hour after the 7:58 a.m. earthquake more than 308,000 houses were without power and by 10.30 a.m that figure had been reduced to just over 87,000. The Taiwan water authority has sent teams to inspect water lines and all 13 of its reservoirs.
The Nuclear Safety Commission said that all power plants are operating normally and that it will continue to monitor conditions.
Taoyuan International Airport is reported to have sustained superficial damage to walls and sprinkler outlets, and three passengers were mildly injured by falling objects, one of whom was a Vietnamese national.
Shortly after the earthquake hit on Wednesday morning officials said aftershocks up to a magnitude of 7 were likely to occur for up to four days.
