Taiwan was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 on the Richter scale during the morning of this Wednesday, April 3, which caused the death of at least nine people and left another 50 missing.
The incident, recorded at 7:58 am (local time), also affected around twenty buildings and left more than 800 people injured.
According to Taiwan’s National Fire Agency, the earthquake was the strongest experienced by the country in the last 25 years. Experts from the United States Geological Survey established its epicenter about 18 kilometers south of the city of Hualien.
The tectonic movement also left some 127 people trapped in various areas, 77 of whom were inside the tunnels that cross the Jinwen and Qingshui mountains, where the authorities have already begun intense rescue efforts.
One of the nine people who died lost their lives during a rock slide that occurred in Taroko National Park.
Several images that have been shared on social networks show the chaos and devastation that was unleashed during the event, with several buildings collapsing and people being evacuated from their homes, schools and workplaces.
Taiwan 🇹🇼 | Taiwan suffered a strong earthquake
A 7.5 earthquake shook the country’s coasts, near southern Japan.
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.#Earthquake #Taiwan pic.twitter.com/QANwFPu8ZF— D’CerclePost (@DCerclepost) April 3, 2024
Wu Chien Fu, director of the Taipei Seismology Center, indicated that this morning’s earthquake was felt throughout Taiwan and the coastal islands. The movement was also felt in some areas of China.
Several factories, including the one specializing in the creation of chips, TSMC, evacuated several of their facilities, this to ensure the well-being of their staff. After the earthquake, TSMC assured that its security systems were operating normally.
This movement is the second most serious experienced by Taiwan in more than two decades, with the worst being that which occurred in 1999, when more than 2,400 people lost their lives.
The quake also caused a tsunami warning to be issued in coastal regions near Taiwan. Japan and the Philippines also alerted their populations, but these alerts were later downgraded.
For now, residents of all these countries remain on alert for the possibility of experiencing aftershocks in the coming days.
The Asian country is located in a region prone to earthquakes, and has a population recognized for its preparation for these seismic movements. Despite this, the authorities did not issue alerts before the earthquake, as the tremor was expected to be of lower intensity.
#strongest #years
