Taiwan’s biggest earthquake in at least 25 years killed nine people on Wednesday in Hualien County and injured more than 900, while 50 workers traveling in minibusses to a hotel in a national park were missing.
The magnitude 7.2 tremor on Wednesday shook buildings off their foundations and caused landslides in the eastern part of the island. Dozens of buildings in the east of city of Hualien collapsed.
The powerful 7.4 magnitude tremor shook the island’s east coast, hitting at 7:58 a.m. local time 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of Hualien city and a depth of 34.8 kilometers (21 miles), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). It was followed by several strong aftershocks with tremors felt across the island, including by CNN staff in the capital, Taipei.
Since the initial quake, there have been 29 aftershocks more significant than a magnitude of 4.0 near the epicenter, according to the USGS. Of these aftershocks, one was above 6.0, and 13 have been at or above 5.0 magnitude.
The National Fire Agency said authorities had lost contact with 50 people in minibusses after the quake downed phone networks. In the capital, Taipei, vehicles pulled over on the side of the road, and the city’s subway service was briefly suspended. Tiles fell from older buildings, and the force of the earthquake knocked over furniture.
Stacy Liu, a Chinese teacher in Taipei who was teaching a class online when the earthquake struck, said it revived childhood memories of Taiwan’s worst quake in recent memory in 1999, when more than 2,400 people were killed.
