Four are dead and 57 reported injured so far in the most powerful quake to hit the island in a quarter century.
Taiwan was shaken by a major earthquake registering magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale on Wednesday at 7:58 a.m. local time.
Authorities said four people were dead and 57 injured as of 1 p.m.
It was the most powerful tectonic event on the island since the „921 quake“ on September 21, 1999, when a 7.6-magnitude quake resulted in 2,415 deaths, injured more than 11,300, and damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of buildings.
The epicenter of Wednesday’s quake was about 15 miles south-southeast of the east coast city of Hualien, which is home to about 100,000 residents. It had a focal depth of about 9.6 miles, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration.
Videos taken in Hualien and shared to social media show buildings leaning at steep angles. Firefighters were dispatched to one of these, a partially collapsed nine-story structure, to rescue people trapped on the third and seventh floors and in the basement, local media reported.
