This is the most powerful earthquake to shake Taiwan in 25 years. This Wednesday, April 3, a magnitude 7.4 underwater earthquake occurred to the east of the island, triggering tsunami warnings in Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines. Alerts ultimately canceled. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, based in Hawaii (United States), announced around 02:00 GMT that
“the threat of tsunami [had] largely passed”
, while calling on residents of coastal regions to remain cautious.
The latest report, established by local firefighters, shows four deaths and nearly 700 injured. All the deaths were located in the Hualien region (east), the epicenter of the earthquake. At least 26 buildings collapsed in the city of the same name, the government said.
Leaning buildings, destroyed houses
Images broadcast by the Central News Agency (CNA) or published on social networks show leaning buildings, completely destroyed houses and overturned supermarket shelves.
The tremor, at a shallow depth, struck very close to the east coast of the island just before 8:00 a.m. local time (9:00 a.m. Japanese time, 00:00 GMT). Several aftershocks followed one another in the same area. Tremors were felt as far away as the capital, Taipei.
In September 1999, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake killed 2,400 people. It was the worst disaster in Taiwan's modern history.