On Thursday, rescuers continued the search for dozens of missing people following Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in twenty-five years.
The natural disaster killed ten people, damaged buildings, and left people stranded. The Taiwan city of Hualien was closest to the epicenter of the earthquake, which registered as a 7.4 on the US Geological Survey Richter scale. Hualien Mayor Hsu Chen-wei stated that 48 residential buildings had been damaged with lots of the city’s residents forced to stay in tents. Over 1,000 people were injured as a result of the earthquake, and around 700 people are still considered missing as of Thursday morning. Over 600 of the still unaccounted for were stranded inside a hotel, with employees reporting that the guests were safe. Immediately following the earthquake were massive landslides that further damaged critical transportation infrastructure including roads, bridges, and tunnels. Local Taiwanese authorities have measured the quake at a 7.2 magnitude. According to the Central Weather Administration, there were over 300 aftershocks from the earthquake spanning from Wednesday morning into Thursday.
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https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-earthquake-hualien-taroko-park-f7e6df36441dc3cde69038e0744aa01d