Four people have died, according to the latest available toll, and 97 have been injured following a powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake that hit the east coast of Taiwan. The earthquake, according to the US geophysical institute Usgs, was located 18 km south-east of Hualien City, about 155 km south of the capital Taipei, at a depth of 34.8 km.
The earthquake was "the strongest in 25 years", said the director of the Taipei Seismological Center, Wu Chien-fu. "The earthquake is close to the mainland and is shallow. It was felt across Taiwan and offshore islands... it is the strongest in 25 years since the (1999) earthquake," Wu Chien-fu said, referring to a September 1999 earthquake of magnitude 7.6 that killed 2,400 people.
All the deaths were reported in Hualien county, the epicenter of the earthquake: three of them were killed by falling rocks while they were on a path in a mountain area and one in a highway tunnel.
Three tsunami warnings were issued following the violent tremor - for Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines - which was followed by a second earthquake of magnitude 6.4. The second earthquake was located in the sea, 11 km northeast of Hualien City, at a depth of 11.8 km.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later said the tsunami threat "has now passed." The Philippine Seismological Agency also canceled the alert. "Based on available data from our sea level monitoring stations in front of the epicentral area, no significant sea level disturbances were recorded from 07:58 until this cancellation," the agency said in a statement. communicated.
Taiwan's National Fire Agency said 26 buildings were reported as "leaning or collapsing" following the earthquake, the Guardian reported. A fire official in Hualien county - close to the earthquake's epicenter - said that "two buildings collapsed", confirming that some people were trapped under the rubble.
More than 87,000 people in Taiwan are currently without electricity, Taiwan's electricity operator Taipower has announced. According to previously released reports, 10,000 families were left without electricity and restoration operations were underway.
Authorities in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, Japan, have suspended flights at the region's main airport due to a tsunami warning triggered by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Taiwan, a government official announced. Operations at Naha airport were suspended from 9.25am local time (2.25am in Italy) as a precautionary measure, a Transport Ministry official stationed at the airport told the AFP news agency, adding that "arriving flights must be diverted".
The earthquake in Taiwan was also clearly reported in China, as far away as Shanghai. According to state media, the province of Fujian, the one on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, was particularly affected: the tremor, in fact, was also felt in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Ningde.
Three other earthquakes, of magnitude 5.7, were recorded off the eastern coast of Taiwan: the US geophysical institute Usgs reports this on its website. The three tremors, all at a depth of 10 km, struck a few kilometers north of the earthquake - still at sea - with a magnitude of 6.5, which the USGS subsequently revised to 6.4. At the moment the US Geophysical Institute reports a total of 7 tremors, of which 4 at sea.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry reported detecting 30 Chinese aircraft and 9 warships around the island in the 24-hour window at 6 local time (midnight in Italy), one of the highest daily numbers of 2024 and close to the phone call between Chinese Presidents Xi Jinping and American President Joe Biden. Twenty planes, the ministry said in a statement, entered the air defense identification zone (Adiz) of the island. Taiwan's military "monitored the situation and deployed (patrol) aircraft, Navy ships and coastal missile systems in response to detected activities."
China willing to provide assistance after earthquake in Taiwan
China is "very concerned and expresses sincere condolences to the compatriots of Taiwan affected by the disaster" of the violent 7.4 magnitude earthquake recorded this morning on the east coast of the island. This is what a spokeswoman for the central government's Taiwan Affairs Office said, specifying that "we will pay close attention to the disaster and subsequent situations and will be willing to provide assistance in the event of a catastrophe".
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