2024-04-08 07:34:45
More than 600 people remained trapped this Saturday in tunnels or isolated areas in eastern Taiwan, three days after the biggest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years, which caused at least 12 deaths.
Taiwan’s disaster management agency said that around 450 people, who were walking trails at the time of the earthquake, are still trapped in a hotel in Taroko National Park, one of the island’s main tourist attractions.
According to a new report, the earthquake caused at least 12 deaths and more than 1,100 injuries, after two victims without any signs of life were detected on one of the trails in the mountainous region of Hualien, close to the epicenter of the earthquake.
Rescue teams were transporting heavy equipment this Saturday to try to recover the two bodies, which were buried on the Shakadang trail, after rocks fell on Wednesday.
At least ten people are still missing, including a family of five on the same trail.
Residents were isolated without access to food
In addition to small groups on foot with dogs, emergency services deployed helicopters and drones to reach people stranded in the mountains, where roads were blocked by landslides and rockfalls.
Rescue teams are also using helicopters to deliver food to many residents who were isolated by the earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.4 according to the United States Geological Survey.
In the city of Hualien, authorities began demolition work on Friday with a crane on the “Urano” building, which tilted 45 degrees after half of the first floor collapsed due to the earthquake.
Many Hualien residents spent the night in the open, after fleeing apartments still shaken by numerous aftershocks, while major works were underway to repair the roads.
Wednesday’s earthquake was the strongest since 1999
The island has been shaken by hundreds of strong aftershocks since the first earthquake and the Government has warned residents to be careful of landslides or falling rocks.
Six miners rescued from quarry in Taiwan after earthquake
Wednesday’s tremor was the strongest in Taiwan since September 21, 1999, when a 7.6 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,400 people and injured more than 11,300.
Also this Saturday, the Government of Taipei criticized Bolivia, after the South American country’s diplomacy expressed solidarity with China following the earthquake that affected the self-governed island.
Taiwan diplomacy also condemned the “shameful behavior” of the Chinese Government, which it accused of taking advantage of the earthquake “to wage a cognitive battle in the international community”.
Although China and Taiwan have lived as two autonomous territories since 1949, Beijing claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a province, and does not exclude the use of force for “reunification”.
2024-04-08 07:34:45