Taiwan earthquake: 9 dead, more than 1,000 injured, and workers stranded

Hualien, Taiwan —

The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century rocked Taiwan during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing nine people, stranding dozens in rock quarries and sending some residents out of the windows of damaged buildings.

The epicenter of the quake, which also injured more than a thousand people, was off the coast of mountainous rural Hualien County, where some buildings were bent at severe angles, and their ground floors were destroyed.

Just over 93 miles away in the capital, Taipei, tiles fell from ancient buildings, and schools evacuated their students to sports fields, outfitting them with yellow safety helmets. Some children covered themselves with school books to protect themselves from falling objects as the aftershocks continued.

Taiwan's earthquake monitoring agency said the quake measured 7.2, while the US Geological Survey said it measured 7.4. The quake occurred about 11 miles off Hualien, on the east coast of Taiwan, and was about 21 miles deep. Several aftershocks followed.

Rescuers fanned out in Hualien to search for people who might be trapped and used excavators to stabilize damaged buildings. The numbers of people missing, trapped or stranded fluctuated frequently as authorities became aware of more people in trouble and worked to locate or free them.

Fire officials said about 70 workers were stranded in two rock quarries and were fine, but the roads leading to them were damaged by falling rocks. Six workers were scheduled to be airlifted on Thursday.

In the first hours after the earthquake, television footage showed neighbors and rescue workers lifting residents, including a small child, through the windows into the street, after the doors were closed due to the shaking. Everyone appeared mobile, in shock but without serious injuries.

Taiwan is regularly exposed to earthquakes and its population is considered among the best prepared for them, but the authorities said they expected a relatively mild earthquake and therefore did not send alerts. The earthquake was eventually strong enough to frighten even people who were accustomed to such shaking.

“I'm used to it [earthquakes]. “I was deeply affected. But today was the first time I was scared to tears because of the earthquake,” said Hsin-hswen Keng, a resident who lives in a fifth-floor apartment in Taipei. The earthquake woke me up. I had never felt such intense shaking before.

At least nine people were killed in the quake, which struck shortly before 8 a.m., according to Taiwan's National Fire Agency. Local newspaper United Daily News reported that three hikers were killed in rockslides in Taroko National Park in Hualien, and that a truck driver died in the same area when rocks collided with the vehicle.

A tsunami warning was issued but was later lifted.

Authorities said another 1,011 people were injured. Officials initially lost contact with 50 hotel staff in minibuses in the national park after the quake knocked out phone networks. Three employees were able to reach the hotel on foot, while the others remained stranded.

The earthquake and aftershocks also caused 24 landslides and damaged roads, bridges and tunnels.

Traffic along the east coast was virtually halted after the quake, as landslides and falling debris hit tunnels and highways. Train service was halted across the island of 23 million people, with some tracks buckling due to the pressures of the quake, as happened with subway service in Taipei, where parts of a newly constructed elevated line split but did not collapse.

The initial panic after the quake quickly faded on the island, which prepares for such events with drills in schools and issuing notices via public media and mobile phones.

Taiwan's preparedness is among the most advanced in the world, and also features strict building codes and a world-class seismic network, said Stephen Gao, a seismologist and professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

By noon, the metro station in the busy Beitou suburb of northern Taipei was once again bustling with people commuting to their jobs and people arriving to visit hot springs or travel through mountain passes at the base of a dormant volcano.

Chinese media reported that residents of Shanghai and several provinces along the southeastern coast of China felt the earthquake. Mainland China and Taiwan are about 100 miles away.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a tsunami about one foot high was detected on the coast of Yonaguni Island about 15 minutes after the quake. Smaller waves were measured at Ishigaki and Miyako Islands. All alerts were lifted in the area on Wednesday afternoon.

Taiwan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the seismic fault line surrounding the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes occur.

Hualien City was last hit by a deadly earthquake in 2018, which killed 17 people and collapsed a historic hotel. The worst earthquake to hit Taiwan in recent years occurred on September 21, 1999, with a magnitude of 7.7, killing 2,400 people, injuring about 100,000, and destroying thousands of buildings.

The economic fallout from the earthquake has not yet been calculated, but Taiwan is a leading manufacturer of the world's most advanced computer chips and other high-tech items that are highly sensitive to seismic events. Parts of the electricity grid have been shut down, potentially leading to supply chain disruptions and financial losses.

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, which supplies semiconductors to companies such as Apple, said it had evacuated employees from some of its factories in Hsinchu, southwest of Taipei. Hsinchu authorities said water and electricity supplies to all factories in the city's science park were operating normally.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange opened as usual on Wednesday, and the index fluctuated between losses and gains.

Lai and Bowden write for The Associated Press. Bodin reported from Taipei, Taiwan. AP journalists Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Semina Mestrino in Taipei, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing, Lorianne Belanger in Bangkok, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.

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