Earthquake in Taiwan. The island, shaken by the strongest earthquake in the last 25 years: Collapsed buildings, people trapped under the rubble, thousands of houses without electricity

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 shook Taiwan. The earthquake was followed by several aftershocks. Authorities initially issued tsunami alerts in southern Japan, but they were cancelled. Several buildings in the east of the country have collapsed and there are reports that several people are trapped under the rubble. One person would have lost his life and dozens of others were injured. More than 85,000 homes remained without electricity. The local press writes that it is the biggest earthquake in the last 25 years.

By the Observator editorial team on 04/03/2024, 07:51

A major earthquake was registered on Wednesday morning in the east of Taiwan, and a tsnuami alert was issued in Okinawa, in the southwest of the Japanese archipelago, but also in the Philippines. The earthquake occurred at 07:58 am local time (2:58 am, Romanian time), at a depth of 15.5 km, just off the east coast, according to the local Meteorological Administration. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the island in the last 25 years. Several people are trapped under the rubble, and 9 people were injured on a highway.

All flights to Japan’s Naha airport on the island of Okinawa have been diverted following a tsunami warning, an airport spokesman told CNN on Wednesday. All employees and staff were evacuated to the third floor to await the impact of the tsunami, Hideaki Tsurudo said, adding that no waves had reached the airport during the time the alert was issued.

And the Philippines issued a tsunami alert on Wednesday for coastal areas in the Pacific Ocean, saying they expected to face “strong tsunami waves”. The population in coastal areas in several provinces were advised to evacuate immediately to higher ground or move further inland, reports The Guardian.

The earthquake, felt in China

The earthquake was also felt in Shanghai, in China, a witness told Reuters. Chinese state media said it was also felt in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Ningde in China’s Fujian province.

So far, the Taipei city administration has not received any damage reports. Taiwan’s high-speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were reported, but said trains would be delayed as inspections were required.

According to The Guardian, images shown on television show collapsed buildings in the city of Hualien on Taiwan’s east coast. There would also be people trapped in the rubble.

It’s been just four months since a 7.6-magnitude earthquake followed by a tsunami killed 244 people and caused extensive damage in the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, on the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan.

On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast of Japan was hit by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and a massive tsunami. These events triggered the world’s worst civilian nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster a quarter of a century earlier. A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Taiwan in September 1999, killing an estimated 2,400 people in the worst natural disaster in the island’s history.