Tokyo

A strong earthquake that struck Taiwan on Wednesday resulted in dozens of structures being damaged, a tsunami warning that was later extended to Japan and the Philippines before being withdrawn, and at least seven fatalities and about 730 injuries.

Authorities declared it to be the strongest earthquake to jolt the island in decades and issued a warning that there would be more in the next few days.

The earthquake was shallow and close to the surface, according to Wu Chien-Fu, director of Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau’s seismic scientific center. All of Taiwan and the neighboring islands felt it.”

Strict building regulations and a disaster awareness campaign seem to have prevented a big calamity for the island, which experiences frequent earthquakes because of its proximity to the meeting point of two tectonic plates.

Wu stated that this was the strongest earthquake to have struck the island since the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in September 1999, which left about 2,400 people dead in the biggest natural disaster in the island’s history.

The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.4, occurred on Wednesday just before 8:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT). The epicenter was found to be 34.8 kilometers deep and 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of the Taiwanese city of Hualien.

Three of the seven individuals who had started their morning stroll in the hills outside the city, according to officials, were murdered by falling rocks that were set off by the earthquake.

Separately, a truck driver was killed when his vehicle was caught in a landslide near a tunnel in the area.

Social media was flooded with videos and images of swaying buildings due to the earthquake’s jolts across the country.

Kelvin Hwang, a guest at a hotel in Taipei, sought shelter in the lobby on the ninth floor, saying, “I wanted to run outside, but I wasn’t wearing any clothes. It was very strong.”

Dramatic images of multi-story buildings collapsing were broadcast on local television channels in Hualien and elsewhere, while a warehouse collapsed in the city of New Taipei.

Bulldozers were shown removing rocks from roadways in Hualien, a seaside city of roughly 100,000 people, which was blocked off by landslides, on local TV channels.

In addition to promising support from the national army, President Tsai Ing-wen called for cooperation between regional and national government organizations.

About 60 individuals were treated for injuries sustained during the earthquake, according to the National Fire Agency, which also confirmed the dead toll.

Regional Impact: At first, officials in Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines issued tsunami warnings; however, by approximately 10:00 a.m. (0200 GMT), the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center declared that the threat had "largely passed."

The metro in the capital was momentarily closed but reopened an hour later. Local mayors encouraged citizens to check for gas leaks.

Because Taiwan is located close to the meeting point of two tectonic plates, it is frequently affected by earthquakes, but Japan, a neighbor, only receives about 1,500 earthquakes per year.

Social media users in the vicinity, including in the eastern Chinese province of Fujian, which is located just over the Taiwan Strait, also reported experiencing powerful shocks.

Residents of Hong Kong reported experiencing tremors from the earthquake too.

As reported by the official news agency Xinhua, China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province with its own government, declared that it was “ready to provide disaster relief assistance” and that it was and stated that it was “in close proximity” to the earthquake event.

Production at some units of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing business, the largest chipmaker in the world, was momentarily affected, while construction sites for future plants were closed for the day, an official from the business told AFP.

Although the damage caused by earthquakes varies depending on the depth and position of the earthquake’s center, the majority of them in the region are modest.

A tsunami is a massive, possibly catastrophic wave sequence that can reach speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour. Its intensity is determined by a number of factors.

The strongest earthquake to ever strike Japan was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck off the northeast coast of the nation in March 2011 and caused a tsunami that left about 18,500 people dead or missing.

The Fukushima nuclear plant’s three reactors melted down as a result of the 2011 catastrophe, making it the world’s biggest nuclear accident since Chernobyl and Japan’s worst post-war tragedy.
This year’s New Year’s Day earthquake in Japan was of a magnitude of 7.5, and it killed around 230 people—many of them from crumbling ancient buildings—off the shore of the Noto Peninsula.