Earthquake in Taiwan leaves dead and more than 900 injured

O earthquake of magnitude 7.5 that hit the east coast of Taiwan this Wednesday, the 3rd, left at least nine dead and more than 900 injured, according to the local government.

According to local authorities, the Fire Department recorded the collapse of at least 26 buildings, most of them in the Hualien region, the city closest to the epicenter.

According to BBC, rescue teams are working to help around 77 people who are “trapped” in buildings and tunnels that collapsed in the region. Authorities also reported that they had lost contact with 50 people who were traveling aboard four minibuses to a hotel in a national park.

The director of the Taipei Seismological Center, Wu Chien-fu, stated that the phenomenon is the “strongest earthquake in the last 25 years”. According to him, the earthquake was “felt throughout Taiwan and nearby islands.” “The public should pay attention to relevant warnings and messages, and be prepared for seismological evacuation,” he warned.

President-elect Lai Ching-te highlighted that “at the moment, the most important thing, the main priority, is rescuing people.”

Japanese authorities issued warning

The tremor, which occurred on Ishigaki Island, reached an intensity of 4 on the Japanese scale that goes from 0 to 7. Because of the phenomenon, Japanese authorities issued a tsunami warning in two regions.

Japan’s public broadcaster NHK urged residents of the Okinawa region to leave their homes immediately and evacuate the area. The Miyako and Yaeyama islands are also points of interest.

Initially, the estimate was that the waves could reach 3 meters in height, and authorities asked everyone in the listed regions to evacuate immediately. “Escape to a higher, safer location right now. Tsunami arrival time is only an estimate. Waves may actually arrive sooner or later. Continue to evacuate while the warning is in effect,” the communicated.

About an hour after the first warning, NHK lowered the alert to “tsunami precautionary”, with estimated waves of 1 meter high. “If you are in the affected areas, stay away from coastlines and river mouths that may overflow. Continue to evacuate until all preventive alerts are lifted,” says the broadcaster’s alert, updated at 10:58 a.m. local time (10:58 p.m. Brasilia time).

On the broadcaster’s website, there is a table with the coastal areas where the tsunami may have already reached. The estimate is that the peak of the waves will occur until around noon local time – or early this morning, according to Brasília time.

Buildings collapsed in earthquake

In Taiwan, images show buildings collapsing due to the force of the earthquake. According to the newspaper The Guardian, the United States Geological Survey reported that the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.4, with an epicenter 18 km south of the city of Hualien, Taiwan, and at a depth of 34.8 km. And Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency reported a magnitude of 7.2.

Following the earthquake, the Philippine seismology agency also issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean. People in coastal areas of several provinces were advised to immediately evacuate to higher ground or move inland.

Source: Redação Terra