Taiwan emergency teams try to rescue more than 600 people after earthquake

Taiwan's emergency teams continued this Thursday to search for nearly 700 people who remain trapped or incommunicado a day after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake occurred, the strongest to have shaken the island in a quarter of a century. The number of injured has risen to 1,067 in the last few hours, while the number of dead has risen to ten, five women and five men. The new victim is a 65-year-old man who was hiking, according to the Emergency Operations Center. However, it is feared that the count will rise in the coming hours, as rescue workers enter a quarry and a gorge where hotel workers and tourists remain trapped. The National Fire Agency has reported that it is in contact with 663 trapped people. Another 38 people are missing.

The most affected city is Hualien, with 99,000 inhabitants. There, all people trapped in buildings have been rescued, but many residents have spent the night outdoors or in tents, according to the Taiwanese news agency CNA, fearing that multiple aftershocks would cause more havoc. In total, 961 people have been evacuated across the island and 619 had to be relocated.

Rescue efforts have been complicated by the large number of aftershocks – at least 324 – in Hualien county, where the epicenter of the earthquake was recorded. The coastal region, located in the east of the island, is a popular destination for tourists and hikers. The Taiwanese Government has warned that aftershocks of magnitude 6.5 and 7 are possible in the next three days.

The Taiwanese Government has allocated 300 million Taiwan dollars (about 8.64 million euros) to the authorities of Hualien county, with 318,700 inhabitants, to facilitate reconstruction and relief efforts.

Early this morning, a helicopter rescued six miners who had spent the night stranded in the Zhonghe quarry, where one of Wednesday's victims was buried in a rockfall. This noon the 64 people who were stranded in another quarry in Hualien have also been safely evacuated.

Fifty hotel workers who went to work in minibuses and with whom contact had been lost have also been located. Three of the missing people walked to the establishment, located in the Taroko Gorge national park, and reported that the rest of their companions were safe, according to the Taiwanese Central News Agency, CNA.

Hualien authorities reported this Thursday afternoon that there are 92 damaged buildings in the affected areas. More than 200 people are in shelters and nearly 10,000 homes lack water and more than 300 lack electricity.

Taiwan, with more than 23 million inhabitants, is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where 90% of the planet's seismic activity is concentrated. Wednesday's earthquake is the largest magnitude recorded on the island since 1999, when a magnitude 7.6 caused some 2,400 fatalities and nearly 10,000 injuries. After that earthquake, authorities imposed stricter building codes and programs to prevent seismic risks.

Taiwan is a key center for semiconductor manufacturing: it produces about 60% of the planet's chips and 90% of the most advanced ones. Most are manufactured through a single company, TSMC, which reported on Wednesday that its facilities had not suffered serious damage from the earthquake. As reported by the company in a note issued at the last minute, ten hours after the earthquake, 70% of production had been restored. The firm also assured that none of the high-end “lithography” machines (one of the most complex pieces of equipment) was damaged, according to the CNA news agency.

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