Taiwan earthquake: More than 600 people remain trapped or disconnected a day after powerful earthquake

HUALIN, Taiwan (AP) — Rescuers searched Thursday for missing people and worked to reach hundreds stranded when the strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years sent rocks and mud tumbling down mountainsides, closing roads. Ten people died and more than 1,000 others were injured.

The powerful quake occurred during the morning rush hour the previous day, prompting schoolchildren to run outside and families to flee their apartments through the windows. The ground floors of some buildings collapsed, leaving them leaning at unstable angles. Although the island is regularly rocked by earthquakes and is generally well prepared, authorities did not send out the usual alerts because they were expecting a smaller quake.

About 200 residents of Hualien County, near the epicenter of the earthquake, are staying in temporary shelters, and the main road linking the county to the capital, Taipei, remains closed on Thursday afternoon, but most daily life in Taiwan has returned to normal. Some local rail services to Hualien have resumed, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, one of the world's most important computer chip manufacturers, has also resumed most of its operations, the Central News Agency reported.

Nearly 1,100 people were injured in the earthquake. Of the 10 dead, at least four were killed inside Taroko National Park, a tourist attraction popular for its canyons and cliffs in the mountainous Hualien region about 150 kilometers (90 miles) from Taipei. One person was found dead in a damaged building and another was found in a Hu Ren quarry. Rescuers also recovered the body of a man with serious head injuries from one of the corridors.

Chickens walk on the roof of a partially collapsed building standing at an angle a day after a strong earthquake, in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Evacuees from their homes are sheltered in the tent area of ​​the shelter after the major earthquake that struck Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, the previous Thursday morning, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Hundreds of people were stranded when rocks and mud blocked roads leading to a hotel, camp or work site, although most were safe while waiting for rescue. It was not clear Thursday whether anyone was still trapped in the buildings.

Liu Zhongda, a 58-year-old construction worker, and his colleague were on their way to work on a road in the national park and were inside a tunnel when the earthquake struck. A rock blocked their exit and they were stuck with some other people.

“We were about to cover up,” Leo said. “No contact can be made (with the outside world).” Liu and his colleague were rescued on Thursday afternoon and underwent a quick medical examination outside the park.

About 60 workers who were unable to leave the quarry due to damage to roads were also released, authorities said. Six workers from another quarry were airlifted.

About 700 people remain isolated, the vast majority of them staff and guests at a national park hotel. The authorities said they were fine and had food and water, and that repair work on the roads leading to the hotel was almost complete. Ten other workers from the same hotel were stranded elsewhere in the park, after most of the others in the group were rescued or managed to get out.

The authorities said they were unable to contact about 15 people, and their condition was not known. The numbers fluctuated frequently as authorities learned of more people in trouble and rescued others.

In the city of Hualien, workers on Thursday used a backhoe to stabilize the base of a damaged building, as chickens pecking between potted plants on the flat roof tilted at a steep angle.

City Mayor Hsu Chen-wei said earlier that 48 residential buildings were damaged in the quake. Hendry Sutrisno, a 30-year-old professor at Hualien Dong Hua University, spent Wednesday night in a tent inside a shelter with his wife and child for fear of aftershocks.

“We came out of the apartment and waited for four to five hours before going back up to get some important things like our wallet. We have then been here ever since to assess the situation.”

Others also said that they did not dare to return to their homes because the walls of their apartments were cracked or because they lived on higher floors. Taiwanese Prime Minister Chen Chien-jin visited some earthquake evacuees in the morning at a temporary shelter.

The earthquake was the strongest to hit Taiwan in 25 years, with a magnitude of 7.4, according to the US Geological Survey.

Huang Xiaoen was in her apartment when the earthquake struck. “At first the building was swaying from side to side, then it shook up and down,” she said.

The Central Meteorological Department recorded more than 400 aftershocks from Wednesday morning until Thursday evening. The national legislature and parts of Taipei's main airport sustained minor damage.

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

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This story has been corrected to say Huang was at her apartment, not his.

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Leung reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press video journalist Taijing Wu contributed to this report.

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