Taiwan: Scores of people trapped in tunnels and under rubble – after biggest earthquake in 25 years
Taiwan has been struck by its strongest earthquake in 25 years – causing buildings to collapse and widespread power outages.
Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency said Wednesday morning’s quake was magnitude 7.2, while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.4 and Japan’s meteorological agency put it at 7.7.
Nine people have died and 821 have been injured after the quake struck in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County during morning rush hour at 7.58am local time (12.58am UK time).
Officials have been working to free 127 people who were trapped in the county. Of those, 77 were underground in Dachingshui and Jinwen tunnels and 50 were passengers of four minibuses in downtown Hualien.
Yu-chang Lin, the interior minister of Taiwan, has said the 77 people have been reached and contacted by the island’s highway bureau.
He added that a rescue operation was under way and all of those trapped were expected to be evacuated before 6pm local time (11am UK time). It is not year clear if the rescue operation has been completed.
Meanwhile, authorities said they had lost contact with those trapped in the minibus.
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Taiwan earthquake triggers landslide
Rescue workers stand near the site of a leaning building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Hualien, eastern Taiwan.
Pic: AP
The epicentre of the initial earthquake was about 11 miles southwest of Hualien and about 22 miles deep.
A five-storey building in Hualien was heavily damaged. The first floor collapsed, leaving the rest leaning at a 45-degree angle.
Traffic along the east coast was brought to a virtual standstill, with landslides and falling debris hitting tunnels and highways in the mountainous region.
Rocks and clouds of dust have also been seen crashing down from mountainous regions with roads and buildings situated below.
Meanwhile, buildings have been seen balanced precariously at odd angles after the initial quake.
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Moment earthquake hits Taiwan
Footage from inside a news studio has shown lights swinging around on the ceiling as the room shakes. A news presenter is seen steadying herself by holding onto a screen as she appears to report on what is happening.
Other footage shows a man in a rooftop swimming pool as the earthquake causes the water to sway from side to side.
In the capital Taipei, in the north of the island, tiles fell from the roofs of older buildings and within some newer office complexes.
Meanwhile, more than 87,000 households in Taiwan were without power, according to the island’s electricity supplier.
Train services across Taiwan – which is home to 23 million people – were suspended, as was the metro.
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Taiwan’s strongest quake since 1999
Firefighters work at the site where a building collapsed in Hualien. Pic:Taiwan’s National Fire Agency/Reuters
Firefighters work at the site of a collapsed building in Hualien.
Pic: Taiwan’s National Fire Agency/Reuters
The national legislature in Taipei, a converted school built before the Second World War, also had damage to walls and ceilings.
Schools evacuated their students to sports fields, equipping them with yellow safety helmets.
Some also covered themselves with textbooks to guard against falling objects as aftershocks continued.
Pic: TVBS
Emily Feng, a correspondent with National Public Radio in Taiwan, told Sky News: “In Taipei my building has been swaying for the past couple of hours, there’s still aftershocks, the last one was just a few minutes ago.
“People are relatively used to earthquakes because Taiwan lies right on a major geographical fault line.
“There are earthquakes basically every month or so… this of course was a quake on a much larger scale.
“But people remained relatively calm because they are used to these sorts of natural disasters.”
She added that authorities are now looking at how to get aid into Hualien and also why an emergency alert system did not go off across the island.
Ms Feng added: “Some people got texts telling them the earthquake was coming. The majority of people, including myself, did not.
“Authorities are trying to figure out why that malfunctioned.”
Meanwhile, Taipei resident Hsien-hsuen Keng said: “Earthquakes are a common occurrence, and I’ve grown accustomed to them. But today was the first time I was scared to tears by an earthquake. I was awakened by the earthquake. I had never felt such intense shaking before.”
She said her fifth-floor apartment shook so hard that “apart from earthquake drills in elementary school, this was the first time I had experienced such a situation”.
A view of a damaged flat in Taiwan. Pic: Reuters
The earthquake led to a small tsunami in some coastal areas of Japan, but warnings were later lifted.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said his country stands ready to support Taiwan following the quake.
Japan’s meteorological agency described the earthquake as very shallow, which can cause greater damage.
The agency also said people “must be vigilant” for aftershocks, which could be of similar intensity for about a week.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said there has been no report of injury or damage in Japan.
He urged residents in the Okinawa region to stay on high ground until all tsunami advisories were lifted.
Pic: Reuters
The Philippines Seismology Agency also issued urged residents in coastal areas of several provinces to evacuate to higher ground.
Chinese media confirmed the earthquake was felt in Shanghai and several provinces along China’s south-eastern coast.
China and Taiwan are about 100 miles apart. China issued no tsunami warnings for the Chinese mainland.
A landslide occurred as a result of the earthquake in Taiwan. Pic: Tutuloveeat
Multiple aftershocks were felt in Taipei in the hour after the initial quake. The US Geological Society said one of the subsequent tremors was seven miles deep and had a magnitude of 6.5.
Taiwan lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a line of seismic faults where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.
Taiwan’s worst quake in recent years struck in 1999, with a magnitude of 7.7, causing 2,400 deaths, injuring around 100,000 and destroying thousands of buildings.
In March 2011, a 9 magnitude earthquake was the strongest in Japan’s history – triggering a massive tsunami and the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
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South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo.
The move could deepen a constitutional crisis triggered by a short-lived period of martial law declared by Mr Han’s predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol.
After the vote on Friday, Mr Han said he will step aside to avoid more chaos.
The opposition brought impeachment proceedings against him over his refusal to immediately fill three places on South Korea’s Constitutional Court – where the former president is on trial.
Three justices had been approved by parliament – where the opposition Democratic Party has a majority – but Mr Han said he would not formally appoint them without bipartisan agreement.
South Korea’s constitution says that six justices on the nine-member Constitutional Court must agree to remove an impeached president, meaning the current justices must vote unanimously to remove Mr Yoon.
The court has said it can deliberate without the full nine-member bench.
Leader of the opposition Lee Jae-myung had vowed to go ahead with the impeachment, accusing Mr Han of “acting for insurrection”.
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Now that Mr Han – who is also prime minister – has been impeached, his finance minister Choi Sang-mok is set to take over as acting president.
Politicians in the 300 parliament voted 192-0 to impeach him. Governing party politicians boycotted the vote.
Following the vote, Mr Han said he would respect the decision and will await a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the impeachment motion.
Mr Han will be stripped of the powers and duties of the president until the Constitutional Court decides whether to dismiss or reinstate him – the same as with Mr Yoon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would be open to peace talks with Ukraine in Slovakia “if it comes to that”.
Mr Putin said Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who this week visited the Kremlin, had offered his country as a location for negotiations as the war in Ukraine nears the three-year mark.
The Russian president said the Slovakian authorities “would be happy to provide their own country as a platform for negotiations”.
“We are not opposed, if it comes to that. Why not? Since Slovakia takes such a neutral position,” Mr Putin said, adding he was resolved to end the conflict in Ukraine, which started with a land, air and sea invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbour in February 2022.
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Ukraine is yet to comment on Slovakia’s offer but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly criticised the country, which borders Ukraine, for the friendly tone Mr Fico has struck towards Russia since his return to power after an election in 2023.
Mr Fico has been critical of EU support for Ukraine, where millions have been displaced since Mr Putin’s decision to launch a “special military operation” to “denazify” and “demilitarise” the 37 million-strong country.
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Mr Putin has repeatedly said Russia is open to talks to end the conflict with Kyiv, but that it would nevertheless achieve its goals in Ukraine.
He has previously demanded Ukraine withdraw its bid to join NATO and asked it to recognise Russia’s gains. Both Kyiv and the West have rejected those demands.
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But while Mr Zelenskyy had for most of the conflict insisted Ukraine would keep fighting until it regained control of its territories, his position on negotiations now appears to have shifted.
In an interview with Sky News, Mr Zelenskyy suggested a ceasefire deal could be struck if the Ukrainian territory he controls could be taken “under the NATO umbrella”.
This would then allow him to negotiate the return of the rest later “in a diplomatic way”.
The Ukrainian leader admitted last week his forces would be unable to recapture any territories occupied by Russia in the east of Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula.
While Kyiv would never recognise Russia’s rule, he said diplomacy is the only option to get Mr Putin to withdraw his army.
The war in Ukraine has taken a devastating toll on Russia too. UK government and military analysis estimates that Russia has lost around half a million troops killed or wounded in Ukraine.
Such is the pressure on manpower that The Kremlin turned to one of its remaining allies, North Korea, to provide additional forces.
It’s thought 10,000 to 12,000 troops were sent in October to fight alongside the Russian military in the fighting in the Kursk region.
However it’s suggested their lack of combat experience has resulted in heavy losses, with Mr Zelenskyy saying earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have already been killed and wounded.
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