Taiwan, an island that China considers part of its territory, lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. Yesterday, an earthquake of 6.4-magnitude on Richter scale struck about 20km off the island's east coast near the popular Taiwanese tourist city of Hualien.
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Multiple buildings across the city of Hualien have been badly damaged and at least four people were killed and 225 injured in the quake that hit the nation. More than 140 people remain missing from one building. Many of those were believed to be still trapped inside buildings, including a military hospital, after the quake hit about 22 km northeast of Hualien on Taiwan’s east coast.
Residents waited and watched anxiously as emergency workers dressed in fluorescent orange and red suits, wearing helmets searched for residents trapped in apartment blocks.
Hualien, a popular tourist hub, is home to about 100,000 people. Residents in the city of Hualien have been told to stay away from their damaged homes, and about 800 have taken shelter in community buildings because of the fear of aftershocks.
Emergency workers surrounded a damaged residential building in the area. Windows had collapsed, and the building was wedged into the ground at a 40-degree angle. Rescuers worked their way around and through the building while residents looked on from behind cordoned-off roads.
However, talking about the past, more than 100 were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016. Also,some Taiwanese remain scarred by a 7.6 magnitude quake that was felt across the island and had killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.
Image Credits: The New York Times
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