Taiwan continues to search for more than 600 people trapped or missing after earthquake

This Thursday, rescue teams continue the search for more than 600 people trapped or missing after the earthquake that shook the east coast of Taiwanthe second most intense in the history of the island.

According to the latest data from Emergency Response Center (CEOC), the earthquake has caused the death of ten people, the last of them a 65-year-old hiker buried by rocks in the Taroko National Park, while another 1,067 have been injured.

Rescuers are concentrating their efforts on finding the more than 600 people trapped in this park, one of the main tourist spots in Taiwan, which is difficult to access due to the poor condition of the terrain and the constant aftershocks.

In fact, the Central Meteorological Agency (CWA) has counted more than 400 aftershocks of the earthquake, all of them in the surroundings of the eastern county of Hualien, the area closest to the epicenter of the earthquake.

In addition, in the next few hours a front that will leave rain is expected “brief and localized” in the mountainous areas of central and eastern Taiwan, which will increase the “risk of landslides, falling rocks and avalanches”the CEOC noted in a statement.

“The CEOC remains continually operational. Rescuing trapped and missing people is of utmost urgency, every second counts“, indicated the organization, which coordinated the deployment of 7,860 soldiers, police and firefighters, as well as 16 aircraft and 710 vehicles to collaborate in the rescue tasks.

Reestablishment of connections with Hualien

On the positive side, 70 people made it out of the Hualien mining areas alive: six were rescued by helicopter early in the morning and the rest descended the mountain under their own power at noon.

Six other students from National Dong Hwa University were found safe and sound in the morning, after one of the educational center’s buildings suffered a serious fire following the earthquake, with damage estimated at 400 million Taiwan dollars (US$12.47 million). , 11.49 million euros), according to the state news agency CNA.

Communications with Hualien, which had been partially isolated after the earthquake, have also been partially restored early in the day coinciding with the start of the Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming in Mandarin), although many sections of road have suffered severe damage .

The railway line between Yilan and Hualien counties resumed operations at 6:00 a.m. (22:00 GMT Wednesday), much earlier than authorities had initially planned, after employees of the state Railway Corporation spent all night cleaning the tracks and repairing damaged sections.

Semiconductor companies, for their part, have reported deteriorations “minima” after the earthquake: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the largest chip manufacturer in the world and one of the most important companies in Taiwan, has managed to restore more than 70% of its production lines after the earthquake.

The most intense earthquake since 1999

The earthquake, whose magnitude was 7.2 according to the CWA and 7.4 according to the United States Geological Survey, was the most intense that Taiwan has suffered since September 21, 1999, when a 7.6 magnitude tremor ended with the lives of more than 2,400 people and injured more than 11,300.

Taiwan sits at the confluence of the Philippine and Eurasian plates, so earthquakes are frequent on the island.