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Taiwan demolishes quake-hit buildings as rescue efforts intensify | South China Morning Post

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At least four people are dead and 711 reported injured from a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the east coast of Taiwan at 7.58am on Wednesday.

The quake’s epicentre was in waters about 25km (15.5 miles) south of the eastern county of Hualien and 138km from Taipei, according to the Central Weather Bureau. The shock was felt across the island, causing buildings to collapse.

Tsunami warnings have been issued on the island as well as in mainland China and elsewhere in the region.

The earthquake hit off Hualien and could be felt across the island, as well as in mainland China. Photo: Facebook/基督教台東興起教會

So far 125 building and houses in Taiwan have been reported damaged, including seven houses in New Taipei which caved in after their foundations collapsed, according to the Central Emergence Operation Centre.

Several mountain sectors of highways in Hualien and central Taiwan were closed to traffic because they had either partially caved in or were blocked by fallen rocks, police said.

Buildings were shaken from their foundations in a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Hualien City, Taiwan on Wednesday morning. Photo: CNA

Taiwan’s high-speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were reported on its trains, but said services would be delayed while it carried out inspections.

Power outages were reported in various parts of Taiwan when the quake started, but power was mostly restored by 10.30am, according to the Taiwan Power Company.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen expressed concern about the damage and asked the military to support the governments in Hualien and elsewhere on the island in rescue missions.
Vice-President William Lai Ching-te, who was elected the island’s leader in January, called on the public to be careful and stay calm. He said the government had opened an emergency centre to deal with the disaster.

Lai will succeed Tsai as the next Taiwanese president on May 20. There was no report from either Tsai or Lai’s office whether the presidential inauguration would be postponed because of the quake.

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The quake was the biggest to hit the island since 1999 when a 7.6 magnitude tremor killed around 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings in one of Taiwan’s worst-recorded quakes.

Subways in Taipei were halted, students evacuated from schools and parts of Hualien were subjected to power outages, Taiwan local media reported.
The semiconductor industry on the island has been affected, with industry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) evacuating factory areas and partially shutting down for preventive measures, according to the Hsinchu Science Park Administration, about 240km from Hualien.

TSMC estimates its operation will be disrupted for six hours at most, and that the impact on the company’s second quarter financial forecast would be around US$60 million. But the overall impact would be limited, it said.

In Hsinchu, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s plant was partially shut as a preventive measure and Innolux’s plant was also partially closed.

KYEC and Taimide Tech evacuated entire plants. AUO, UMC and Macronix were operating as normal.
Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has offered the island disaster assistance, according to China News. Taiwan has not responded to the offer.

In August 2009, Taiwan suffered the worst flood in 50 years from Typhoon Morakot, causing heavy losses to people and property. Mainland departments donated funds to aid disaster relief.
In February 2016, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Taiwan, killing 117 people.
Cross-strait relations turned sour when Tsai refused to accept the “one-China” principle after she took office in May that year.

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In 2018, after the February 6 earthquake in Hualien that killed dozens of people and hurt hundreds, mainland parties donated more than 23 million yuan (US$3.1 million).

Taipei rejected Beijing’s offer to help with an earthquake rescue mission just before a second quake, saying it had enough manpower to search for missing people.

A day later, as search continued, the Taipei government accepted Japan’s help offering the rationale that its rescuers brought hi-tech equipment to detect signs of life.
Since Tsai came to power, Beijing has suspended official cross-strait talks and exchanges with Taiwan, which it considers to be a breakaway province.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to arm Taiwan.
The impact of the earthquake could be felt in Japan and off the east coast of mainland China, including in Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shantou.
The mainland’s Tsunami Warning Centre under the Ministry of Natural Resources issued a level 1 tsunami alert, or red alert – the highest of four levels – and said it expected there would be further damage to areas around Hualian, including eastern Taipei.

Taiwanese scramble to safety after the earthquake struck around 8am on Wednesday. Photo: Facebook/基督教台東興起教會

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for Miyako Island and the main island of Okinawa around 8am, with waves expected to reach 3 metres high, NHK reported.

An hour later, Manila also issued a tsunami warning and ordered the evacuation of its coastal areas, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Aftershocks up to magnitude 7 were expected in the next few days, the island’s Central Weather Bureau said.

Local media footage showed that buildings shook violently for a minute before crashing to the ground, while residents ran screaming.

Three hikers were killed by falling rocks at the famed Dekalun Trail in Taroko National Park in Hualien and a truck driver died when his vehicle was crushed by rocks near a tunnel in Hualien. In Taroko park more than 40 people, mostly tourists, were hurt and hundreds were evacuated.

At least 50 people in Hualien, Yilan, Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung and Taoyuan were injured after they were either hit by fallen objects or fell during the earthquake.

Some 22 people were rescued from a collapsed eight-storey building in Hualien while five others remained trapped and one person was reported missing, police said.
Part of the ceiling in Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport fell when the quake struck, airport officials said, adding that there were no reports of passenger injuries so far.
Damaged walls, falling bricks and debris were reported across most of the island, police said.

Developing | Taiwan toll rises to 4 dead, 711 injured after 7.3 magnitude quake rocks island

In Hualien near epicentre, three hikers and a truck driver were killed by falling rocks; tsunami warnings issued on the island and elsewhere in the region.

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