ReutersResidents look at the devastation after the earthquake
NOS News•yesterday, 09:30•Adjusted yesterday, 11:55
The death toll in Taiwan after yesterday’s earthquake has risen to 10. The number of injured has also risen to more than a thousand. Rescue workers are still looking for dozens of people who are missing. About a hundred people are also still trapped in damaged buildings.
Taiwan was hit by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake yesterday. It was the strongest earthquake on the island in 25 years.
Over the past day there were about forty fairly large aftershocks in the region, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 6.4. Authorities warn that the threat of aftershocks will last until the end of the week.
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Normal life continues in Taiwan
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Rescue workers try to remove people from an apartment building using a crane
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Rescue workers in Taiwan
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Havoc on the streets in Taiwan
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A tent camp in Taiwan after the earthquake
In the eastern city of Hualien, near the epicenter, several people have to sleep in tents. According to authorities, at least a hundred buildings have been damaged to such an extent that residents cannot return and that the buildings must be demolished.
People saved
The emergency services managed to free sixty miners. Eleven tourists were also rescued at a nearby nature park who were unable to leave the park after the earthquake.
Contact has now also been made with fifty hotel employees who got stuck on their way to work in a hotel in a nature park. Three of them managed to reach another hotel and thus make contact with the outside world. At the time of the earthquake, the fifty people were on their way to work in vans. Rescue workers must first clear the road to the hotel before the employees can be rescued. This is expected to happen soon.
According to the Taiwanese fire brigade, 646 people are still trapped in the popular nature park, mainly in hotels. They too can be saved when the way is cleared.
View images below from during and after the earthquake:
Major earthquake hits Taiwan
Well prepared
Despite the heavy quake, the death toll in Taiwan appears to remain relatively limited. The island is well prepared for such natural disasters.
The EU, Japan and Paraguay, among others, have offered help. China also quickly made an offer of help, but this was rejected by Taiwan. Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province and this leads to high tensions.
