Video – Taiwan: Impressive images of earthquake “strongest in 25 years”

A magnitude 7 earthquake struck off the coast of Taiwan on Wednesday.

At least 4 people were killed and more than 50 injured in this devastating earthquake.

Three of the victims died on a hiking trail, and a fourth died in a road tunnel near the epicenter.

Earth shook again in Taiwan. According to a preliminary report by the National Earthquake Prevention Organization, more than 7 underwater earthquakes struck near this island in eastern China on Wednesday, April 3, killing four people. More than 50 people were injured. However, the tsunami warning issued in the area was withdrawn.

Collapsed buildings

All the deaths occurred in Hualien County, near the epicenter of the earthquake, in the east of the island. Of the victims, three of them died on the sidewalk, and a fourth died in a road tunnel, the National Fire Agency said. Emergency services said around fifty people were injured. A more tentative estimate. Because two buildings have collapsed in the area and there are fears that people may be trapped.

Photographs released by Central News Agency show a partially collapsed seven-storey red building. Inclined approximately 60 degrees. Located on the border of several tectonic plates, construction standards are among the most stringent in the world. “We have no additional information at this time.” A fire official announced from the port, home to nearly 100,000 people, nestled at the foot of mountain ranges and valleys.

The magnitude of the earthquake was rated between 7.2 and 7.5 out of 9 by different national agencies, making it the strongest to hit the island in 25 years. It occurred at a shallow depth and was followed by forty aftershocks. “The earthquake was close to the coast and shallow. It was felt across Taiwan and neighboring islands… It was the strongest in 25 years since the 1999 earthquake.”Wu Hsien Fu, director of the Taipei Seismological Center, told reporters. The quake jolted workers aboard the Skytrain shortly before 8 a.m. For those still in bed, they woke up with a start. Like this unknown French girl “Don't know what to do”. “I knew you were supposed to be under the table, but I didn't dare move, I put myself in the corner of my bed.”

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It was enough to trigger tsunami warnings in Taiwan, Japan's southwestern islands and several provinces in the Philippines, where residents of coastal areas were asked to reach higher ground. But Japanese and Philippine officials eventually rescinded their warnings. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a regional observatory in Hawaii reported two hours after the first tremor. “Tsunami threat now largely passed”Residents of coastal areas are urged to be cautious.