Dohne Damons
A powerful earthquake measured at 7.2 by Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency and 7.7 by Japan’s struck Taiwan’s eastern coast on April 3rd. The last time Taiwan was devastated by such a powerful earth quake was 25 year’s ago on 21 September 1999.
The lastest reports share the impact of the devastation with seven confirmed fatalities that happened in the epicenter of the earth quake in Hualien County.
The earth quake hit Taiwan at 7.58am local time. Rescue teams are working tirelessly to locate survivors trapped in the wreckage of collapsed buildings and report injuries of at least 723.
The earthquake caused significant damage to infrastructure, with buildings collapsing, roads buckling, and power outages affecting over 87,000 households across Taiwan. Train lines are damaged, forcing closures, and schools and workplaces in Hualien are shut down. Even the capital, Taipei, experienced disruptions, with the subway service temporarily suspended.
As reported by Sky News, China which is located over two thousand kilometres away from Taiwan also shared reports of experiencing the earth quake and issued a warning to its south-eastern coast residents to evacuate to higher ground.
While initial tsunami warnings issued for Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines have been lifted, the threat of aftershocks continues to loom.
YouTuber Prozzie captured the experience as it happened
Prozzie who is a YouTuber who makes videos about being an expat in Taiwan shared the experience with ABC7 News.
This one by far was one of the worst I have experienced.
YouTuber Prozzie
Taipei residents found at the San Francisco Airport at the moment following the earthquake also shared reports from family back home. Watch the video below for visuals of the account and more details on what happened.
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