BEIJING – The strongest earthquake in the last 25 years. An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 shook Taiwan this morning at 7.58am local time, triggering a tsunami warning for neighboring islands Japan southern and Philippines: alarm then reset. One dead and 56 injured are the toll so far. But there are still people trapped under the rubble.
The epicenter was located at a depth of 15.5 km off the east coast of the island. The city of Hualien the most affected: 26 buildings have currently collapsed across Taiwan, half of them in Hualien. The earthquake was felt as far away as China: in Shanghai, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Ningde. The earthquake cut electricity in several areas of the capital Taipei: More than 87 thousand families across the island are still without power. In the capital, however, the subway immediately returned to operation, even the railways announced that no damage or injuries have been reported at the moment.
“The risk of tsunami following the powerful earthquake near Taiwan is largely exceeded,” announced the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, an observatory based in Hawaii. The Japan Meteorological Agency said some small tsunami waves reached parts of southern Okinawa prefecture, but later downgraded the tsunami warning to a mere advisory. The Philippines has issued an advisory to residents in coastal areas of several provinces urging them to evacuate to higher ground. The Southern Taiwan Science Parkwhere the semiconductor giant Tsmc has a plant, said businesses are operating smoothly and its safety systems are functioning normally. “All staff are well and those who were evacuated are returning to work.”
Solidarity from Beijing: China’s Taiwan Affairs Bureau said it was ready to provide disaster assistance.
(reuters)
The earthquake was the strongest to hit the island since 1999, when a 7.6 magnitude tremor killed around 2,400 people. Hualien it is an area of Taiwan particularly subject to earthquakes: in 2018 17 people died.