Taiwanese recount the massive earthquake as authorities focus on rescue and recovery

Taipei, Taiwan —

A day after the largest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years left the eastern part of the island in tatters, rescue workers continued their efforts Thursday to rescue dozens of people still trapped, including 70 workers stranded inside two rock quarries.

Authorities say the 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed nine people and injured more than 1,000 people. The mountainous Hualien County in Taiwan suffered the most severe damage and losses.

Among those who died was a 33-year-old high school teacher named Kang, who was found under the rubble of a collapsed building. According to local media reports, Kang returned to the building, which was leaning at a 45-degree angle, after the initial earthquake to rescue her cat.

When rescuers found her, she had no vital signs. Witnesses told Taiwanese newspaper SET News that the building suffered a complete collapse just seconds after Kang entered the building to search for her pet.

The earthquake also destroyed many major transportation routes leading to Hualien City. The road leading to a tunnel between Hualien City and northern Taiwan was completely destroyed. The authorities suspended the operation of the northbound railway line, as several sections of it suffered severe damage.

The quake occurred a day before a four-day holiday, leaving large numbers of travelers stranded in Hualien or with no choice but to take longer routes to reach other parts of Taiwan.

Photo gallery: In pictures: Taiwan earthquake

The Ministry of Transport has tried to increase air and sea transport capacity and promised to resume some northbound rail travel capacity by Thursday. However, some Hualien residents said they prefer to take the more complicated and predictable route to reach their destination.

“I met four college students who first hired a taxi to get to Taitung Train Station in southeastern Taiwan, and then took local trains to reach their destination,” Jeremy Hsu, a 44-year-old lawyer, told VOA by phone while waiting. To his home by train in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan. “Some of them need six hours or more to get where they need to go.”

Hualien has long been a popular tourist destination, and the quake forced some Taiwanese families to change their plans to reach safety. “When we arrived in Hualien in the morning, the tiles outside our hotel started falling,” said Andrew Cao, a 37-year-old engineer with two young children.

“In order to get to a safer place, we had to drive south, which is the only accessible way to leave Hualien City, to find a more suitable hotel to live in,” he told Voice of America by phone.

While most Hualien residents are accustomed to earthquakes, some say Wednesday's quake was the first time they were terrified by quakes. “Normally, the earthquake ends within one minute, but today's quake lasted two to three minutes,” said Ian Lin, a 42-year-old lawyer from Hualien City.

“Compared to the 1999 Jiji earthquake, there were a lot of aftershocks today, which really scared me,” he told Voice of America in a phone interview.

The Central Meteorological Authority in Taiwan said that it had detected more than 150 aftershocks as of 5 p.m. local time and warned of the possibility of some aftershocks with a magnitude ranging between 6.5 and 7 degrees during the next three or four days.

Despite concerns expressed by some Hualien residents, others say their previous experiences with earthquakes helped them respond more calmly this time.

Agha Hsu, a 39-year-old hostel owner, said: “After experiencing many earthquakes over the past nine years, I realized that it was about the power of nature, and gradually, I was no longer terrified of earthquakes.”

While Hsu said he was not particularly bothered by the damage to infrastructure and temporary shortages of daily necessities, he hopes Taiwanese authorities can learn from Wednesday's quake and build transportation routes that can better withstand future natural disasters.

“Every time a major transportation route is damaged by a natural disaster, I always know that it will take the authorities much longer to repair it,” he told Voice of America. “I hope the government can realize the damage a major earthquake could cause to people in Hualien and come up with more sustainable alternatives in the future.”

In the wake of the earthquake, sympathy and support for Taiwan poured in from around the world. World leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and European Council President Charles Michel, issued statements of support for Taiwan.

US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on Wednesday that Washington is ready to provide any necessary assistance.

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