High-strength earthquakes and power cuts in the eastern city of Hualien, Taiwan: the last largest earthquake to hit Japan since 1999
According to Taiwan media, the last large earthquake to hit the island was in 1999 and killed more than 2,400 people.
The quake hit near the eastern city of Hualien at 7:58am local time (2358 GMT) and had a magnitude of 7.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, making it the strongest quake to hit since 1999. The depth is thought to be shallow at about 22 miles. The Taiwan earthquake monitoring agency gave a magnitude of 7.2.
The buildings were shaking off their foundations and appeared on television as a sideshow. The authorities suspended work and school in Hualien, an area with about 300,000 residents. The power was cut to 87,000 residents in Hualien for safety reasons, and eight power plants were shut down due to the same.
Taiwan’s transportation authorities said subway and train service was suspended island-wide. Videos from the epicenter show rockslides covering roads and houses that were knocked off-kilter.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency predicted a waves of up to 3 meters (9 feet) for the southern Japanese island group of Okinawa. The Associated Press reports that a wave was seen off the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the earthquake. JAMA said waves likely also hit the coasts of Miyako and Yaeyama islands.
The earthquake-scattered death of three hikers in Hualien, the county seat of Taiwan, reported on the state-owned Central News Agency
The county has a population of about 300,000, according to the 2020 census, about a third of whom live in the coastal city of Hualien, the county seat. It is one of the most sparsely populated parts of Taiwan. About three hours by train from the capital, Taipei, the city describes itself as the first place on the island that’s touched by the sun.
Three hikers were trapped on a trail near the entrance of the gorge after the earthquake sent rocks falling, said the state-owned Central News Agency. Two of them died, the news agency said. Administrators said many roads within the park had been cut off by the earthquake, potentially trapping hikers, according to the report.
News reports show that many of the victims were in a tilted building where the first four floors were largely destroyed. The area was hit by an earthquake that injured 17 people.
The area has some of the highest concentrations of Taiwan’s aboriginal population, with several of the island’s Indigenous tribes calling the county home.