7.4 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan: Stones were raining down from the mountain like bullets

Aid workers are trying to reach more than 600 people trapped in Taiwan, a day after its worst earthquake in 25 years. One of the survivors said that the coal mine near which they were working was pelted with stones from the tremors. 

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit the eastern county of Hualien in the country, killing 9 people and injuring more than 1,000. Some people trapped near the tunnels and the national park were rescued by helicopters, but 34 people are still missing. The official number of people stranded rose by 100 to 663 on Thursday after phone signals began to be restored in mountainous areas. 

Almost all of these people are tourists and staff members staying in a remote hotel who cannot leave the area due to destroyed roads. Authorities are now trying to figure out the best way to get them out. 

One survivor told Taiwan’s Central News Agency, “Rocks started raining down from the mountain like bullets. We had nowhere to escape. Everyone was carrying sandbags to get out. Three of the nine people killed were hiking on the trail leading to Taroko National Park. In the city of Hualien, where the earthquake struck, relief efforts are underway and workers have used excavators and other heavy equipment to demolish several damaged buildings. 

On Thursday morning, the BBC saw rescue workers removing boulders the size of cars that had fallen near railway lines to allow normal train services to resume. The Uranus Building, a 10-story building that has tilted since the earthquake, has been piling large amounts of gravel and rocks near it to prevent it from collapsing in the event of an aftershock. 

According to local news, a female teacher was killed when she went back inside the building to save her cat. ‘The building was shaking so much I could barely walk,’ Sue Chiu Yeoh, who was working in front of the Uranus building when it collapsed. I was really scared, I felt that my legs were out of control. 

 Another resident of Hualien described how the earthquake destroyed his house. Fortunately, apart from the overturning of the bike, the damage was minimal. 

Further north, tremors were also felt in the capital Taipei, with footage showing damaged buildings and people fleeing. Local TV stations broadcast clips of wrecked cars and shops. 

Wu Qianfu, director of the Taipei Seismological Center, said on Wednesday: ‘The earthquake is close to the surface and it is deep. It was felt throughout Taiwan and offshore islands. This is the strongest earthquake in 25 years. There have been reports of power and internet outages across the island. As a result of the earthquake, tsunami alerts were also issued in Japan and the nearby islands of the Philippines, but these alerts were later reduced. 

As a result of the earthquake, tsunami alerts were also issued in Japan and the nearby islands of the Philippines, but these alerts were later reduced. Although Taiwan has a history of earthquakes, locals and foreigners who have lived here for years say this is the most powerful earthquake in decades. Earlier in September 1999, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck, killing 2,400 people and destroying 5,000 buildings.