At least 7 dead in the worst earthquake that Taiwan has suffered in almost 25 years – Publimetro México

Taiwan’s largest earthquake in a quarter-century shook the island during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, damaging buildings and killing at least seven people.

In the capital, Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings and schools evacuated their students to sports fields, equipping them with yellow safety helmets. Some children covered themselves with textbooks from the possibility of falling objects as the followingshocks continued. Later, a five-story building in Hualien county, near the epicenter at sea, was left leaning at a 45-degree angle on its collapsed first floor.

Seven people died in the tremor, which occurred just before 8 a.m., according to Taiwan’s national fire agency. The local newspaper United Daily News reported that three hikers died during a landslide in Koroko National Park and a truck driver died in the same area following large rocks hit his vehicle.

There were 736 injured and 77 people trapped, according to government statistics. The quake and followingshocks also caused 24 landslides and damaged 35 roads, tunnels and bridges.

Taiwan’s seismological agency reported a magnitude of 7.2 for the earthquake, while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) placed it at 7.4. The quake occurred regarding 18 kilometers (11 miles) south-southwest of Hualien, with a depth of regarding 35 km (21 miles). Shallower earthquakes tend to cause more damage to the surface. The tremor triggered a tsunami warning that was later withdrawn.

Authorities indicated that they only anticipated a relatively mild magnitude 4 earthquake and therefore did not send alerts. In any case, the earthquake was of sufficient intensity to scare some of the people accustomed to these shaking.

“Earthquakes are common and I have become accustomed to them. But today was the first time an earthquake made me cry out of fear,” said Hsien-hsuen Keng, a Taipei resident. “The shaking woke me up. “I have never felt such a strong shock before.”

Television images showed neighbors and rescuers carrying people, including a little girl, out of windows and onto the street. Everyone seemed to be able to move, shaken but not seriously injured. The doors had been blocked by the pressure of the earthquake.

The national legislature, located in what was a school built before World War II, also reported damage to walls and ceilings.

Traffic on the east coast of the island was practically paralyzed due to landslides and falling debris that affected tunnels and highways in the mountainous region. Train service was suspended throughout the island of 23 million people, as was subway service in Taipei, where a recently built elevated line suffered a partial separation.

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported a 1 foot (30 centimeter) rise in the tide off the coast of Yonaguni Island regarding 15 minutes following the quake. Smaller waves were recorded on the islands of Miyako and Yaeyama.

The earthquake was felt in Shanghai and several other provinces on China’s southeastern coast, according to local press. China and Taiwan are regarding 160 km (100 miles) apart. China did not issue any tsunami warning for its mainland.

The initial panic following the earthquake subsided quickly on the island, which suffers frequent tremors and prepares for them with drills in schools and notices on public media and cell phones.

By midday, the subway station in Taipei’s bustling Beitou neighborhood was once once more packed with commuters and seniors visiting hot springs or hiking mountain trails at the foot of an extinct volcano. .

Stephen Gao, a seismologist and professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology, said Taiwan’s earthquake preparedness is among the most advanced in the world and includes strict building regulations, a world-class seismological network and extensive public awareness campaigns. on earthquake safety.

The last fatal earthquake in Hualien was in 2018, when a historic hotel and other buildings collapsed. The worst earthquake in recent years in Taiwan occurred on September 21, 1999, when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake caused more than 2,400 deaths, injured around 100,000 people and destroyed thousands of properties.

Taiwan is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a series of geological faults that surround the Pacific Ocean and where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.

The economic effects of the earthquake were yet to be determined. Taiwan is the world’s largest manufacturer of the most advanced computer processors and other technological items that are highly sensitive to earthquakes. Part of the electrical grid was disconnected, which might affect the supply chain and cause economic losses.

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, which supplies semiconductors to companies such as Apple, said it had evacuated staff from one of its factories in Hsinchu, southwest of Taipei. Authorities in Hsinchu said water and electricity supplies at all factories in the city’s technology park were operating normally.

Taiwan’s stock market opened normally on Wednesday, with the benchmark index swinging between gains and losses.