Nine people have died, according to the latest available toll, and 821 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.
After the first shock there were about a hundred aftershocks, nine of which measured between magnitude 5 and 6. Another two exceeded magnitude 6 according to data from the Cwa Seismological Center. The Taipei Times reports it. This morning's earthquake was felt throughout Taiwan, as the quake was shallow, explained CWA director Wu Chien-fu.
According to the latest update released by the Central Disaster Response Center at 4.30pm local time (10.30am in Italy), the people trapped in the rubble are now estimated at 127. The heaviest damage is in the county of Hualien, the epicenter of the earthquake principal. In particular, rocks fell on the Su-Hua Highway and hit various vehicles, causing a still uncertain and provisional number of victims.
Several buildings are at risk of collapsing as police, firefighters, rescue units and volunteers struggle to save trapped people. According to local media, the latest victim is a woman pulled from one of the collapsed buildings in Hualien after an intervention described as "high risk".
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.
Photo story Earthquake in Taiwan, images of destruction - Primopiano - Ansa.it
Three tsunami warnings were issued following the first violent tremor, for Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines. 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.
According to the National Fire Agency (NFA), the powerful tremors that shook Taiwan damaged 97 buildings across the island. CNN reports it. According to local authorities, about half of the damaged buildings are located in Hualien county, near the earthquake's epicenter. Four buildings in the county partially collapsed,
Hualien County Magistrate Hsu Chen-wei said at a news conference. Residents of three buildings have been safely evacuated, while search and rescue operations continue in the nine-story Uranus building, which is leaning to the right after the ground floor collapsed, Hsu said.
Aerial footage of the earthquake in Hualien shows a huge landslide on the Chongde slope of the Suhua Highway, where a large area collapsed. Transport Minister Wang Guocai said the entire Qingshui Bridge on the north side of the Daqingshui Tunnel had collapsed.
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 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.
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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