This Wednesday, the President of the European Council lamented the deaths of an as yet undetermined number of people following an earthquake in Taiwan during the early hours of the morning and expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
“I want to express my unconditional support for all those affected by the earthquake in Taiwan and my condolences to the families of the victims. The European Union is ready to help with any assistance that is needed,” wrote Charles Michel on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
At least seven people died and 711 were injured, according to a new provisional balance of victims of the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that hit the coast of Taiwan, the civil protection authority said.
The official Taipei organization initially indicated that four people had died, but the number of fatalities increased to seven in the last hour.
At first, the authorities in Taiwan (Republic of China) reported that there were around 60 injured, but the provisional toll was updated to 711, without specifying the severity of the injuries.
The 7.4 magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit the island in the last 25 years, occurred at 9:00 am (1:00 am in Lisbon), with the epicenter located near Hualien, at a depth of 15.5 kilometers, according to the Seismological Center from China.
The first indications were that the four deaths occurred in the Hualien region, close to the epicenter of the earthquake in the east of the island of Taiwan.
Three of these four victims died on a hiking trail and the fourth in a road tunnel.
Details about the circumstances surrounding the remaining three fatalities are not yet known.
The magnitude of the underwater earthquake was further estimated at 7.5 by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), 7.4 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and 7.2 by the Taiwan Meteorological Agency (CWA).
Tags: Charles Michel expresses condolences affected earthquake Taiwan
