Rescuers freed nine people trapped in a tunnel in Taiwan on Friday and are still searching for around ten people missing, after the biggest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years.
The toll from the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that occurred on Wednesday officially remains at 10 dead and more than a thousand injured, according to the authorities, while emergency services had to deliver food by helicopter to many isolated residents.
Local authorities announced Friday that they had found two other victims without “any signs of life” on a hiking trail in the mountainous region of Hualien, in the east of the island, near the epicenter of the earthquake.
The two victims, crushed by a landslide, were buried under enormous blocks of stone. “Their bodies have been found, but they have not yet been extracted. We will add them to the death toll once they have been extracted and identified,” Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang said.
Hundreds more people were still trapped in the mountains on Friday, with roads blocked by landslides and rockslides, but most were considered safe.
Rescuers deployed helicopters and drones and sent small groups on foot with dogs to reach them.
Roads repaired
Rescuers on Friday freed nine people alive from a passage in a gorge frequented by tourists, called the Tunnel of the Nine Towers.
“There are still aftershocks and rockfalls, but in the space of about five hours today, we managed to repair 10 kilometers of road,” stressed the Minister of the Interior.
In the city of Hualien, the most affected by the earthquake, the authorities authorized residents to enter in 15-minute rotations into a building whose facade was collapsing, to recover their belongings.
Some threw mattresses and bags of clothes out the window, while a young mother pulled out a bed for her 10-month-old baby.
“We were told the building had become unsafe and there probably wouldn’t be another opportunity to take our things,” said Chen, the 24-year-old woman. “During the great earthquake […] I only thought about protecting my baby.” “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”
A little further away, workers began to demolish the “Uranus” building with a crane, which tilted 45 degrees after the earthquake following the collapse of half of its first floor.
According to the national disaster agency, more than 630 people remain stranded in tunnels or isolated areas but have been located by emergency services, who are still searching for 13 people missing.
“All safe”
Rescuers dropped food and equipment in boxes by helicopter on Friday morning for people sheltering in an isolated elementary school.
Nine people stranded in a luxury hotel inaccessible by road were also repatriated by helicopter.
In a youth hostel, around fifty people, including a Briton and four Germans, were waiting for the roads to be cleared, according to an employee. “We are all safe and have enough supplies. The damaged roads are being repaired,” said Lin, the employee, hoping to leave within the day.
In northern Taiwan, life has returned to normal, despite traces of the earthquake still visible on many buildings.
In New Taipei City, a skytrain line was under repair after a rail came loose, while alleys around Taipei, where debris was still falling, were closed.
Wednesday’s earthquake was the largest to hit Taiwan since a magnitude 7.6 quake in 1999.
This earthquake, which caused 2,400 deaths, remains the deadliest natural disaster on the island to date.
Strict building regulations, with strengthening seismic standards in recent years, and widespread public awareness of natural disasters have helped limit the impact of the new earthquake in Taiwan.