‘I kept praying and praying’, says rescued woman as search for four people missing from hiking trail set to resume following Wednesday’s quake

Rescuers in Taiwan planned to bring in heavy equipment on Saturday to try to recover two bodies buried on a hiking trail, while more than 600 people remained stranded in various locations, three days after the island’s strongest earthquake in 25 years.

Four people remain missing on the same Shakadang Trail in Taroko national park, famed for its rugged mountainous terrain. Search and recovery work was set to resume after being called off on Friday afternoon because of aftershocks.

At least 12 people were killed by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck on Wednesday morning off Taiwan’s east coast, and 10 others were still missing.

More than 600 people – including about 450 at a hotel in the Taroko park – remained stranded, cut off by rockslides and other damage in different areas. However, many were known to be safe as rescuers deployed helicopters, drones and smaller teams with dogs to reach them.

Continue reading...

Experts say the US east coast earthquake was an opportunity for people to learn the official protocol: ‘drop, cover and hold on’

Millions of people across the US east coast were jolted on Friday morning when a rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region.

With its epicenter in New Jersey, the temblor jostled densely populated areas where residents are less accustomed to earthquakes, including in the New York City metropolitan area . There are no early-warning systems in place for this region, unlike on the earthquake-prone west coast, where they give people a few moments to ready themselves before the shaking starts. On the east coast, fewer people have had practice or experience with what to do when an earthquake hits.

Continue reading...

Quake felt across New York City and surrounding areas including New Jersey

The New York region in the United States experienced a magnitude 4.8 earthquake that was felt across New York City and its surroundings including New Jersey, the Associated Press reported.

More details soon …

Continue reading...

Residents of tourist town at the epicentre of the 7.2 magnitude Taiwan earthquake face destruction and despair

Lying in his bed, Liao Xiu Bo wondered if he was about to die. As a powerful earthquake rocked the ground beneath him, he tried to escape his house. “Am I going to be crushed?”, he asked himself, before gathering the courage to run down the stairs, which swayed beneath his feet.

Outside, he could see that the wall surrounding his house had collapsed, its bricks littered across the road. “That’s when I realised how extreme the earthquake was”.

Continue reading...

CCTV footage shows staff rush to hold on to wobbling cots when an earthquake struck Taiwan. Surveillance video caught the moment the earthquake hit the Ma Cherie maternity centre in Taipei. Taiwan is still assessing the aftermath of the quake – given a magnitude of 7.2 by the national earthquake monitoring agency, 7.4 by the US and 7.7 by Japan – which struck near Hualien

• Taiwan earthquake: rescuers search for survivors amid landslides and aftershocks

Continue reading...

Officials are trying to reach more than 100 people cut off by a quake that has killed at least nine and injured about 1,000 people

Rescue teams are trying to reach more than 100 people trapped in mining areas and a national park after the strongest earthquake in decades hit Taiwan, killing nine and injuring about 1,000 people.

Search efforts around the worst-hit city of Hualien on the east coast have been hampered by more than 50 aftershocks recorded since the quake struck on Wednesday morning, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. More are predicted over the next four days, with magnitudes of between 6.5 and 7.

Continue reading...

At least seven killed and 700 injured after 7.2-magnitude quake struck south-east of city on Wednesday morning

• Taiwan earthquake: live updates

In the first moments after the huge quake hit, Lanni Hsu grabbed her dog and her family, and fled. Running down five flights of stairs, she headed outdoors to seek safety from falling objects.

Hsu lives in Hualien, a busy tourist city on Taiwan’s east coast, where the 7.2 magnitude quake struck on Wednesday morning . The death toll stood at seven, with 700 injured and hundreds trapped under rubble.

Continue reading...

Rescues carried out in worst-hit city of Hualien after strong 7.7 magnitude quake; Japan lifts tsunami advisory

• Full report: four dead and dozens injured amid landslides and collapsed buildings

People are trapped in collapsed buildings in Taiwan’s city of Hualien according to local media and the local government has suspended schools and classes in the region.

According to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, the epicentre of the quake was 25km southeast of Hualien.

Based on tsunami wave models and early tide gauge records of the tsunami in the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, coastal areas in the Philippines fronting the Pacific Ocean are expected to experience high tsunami waves.

It is forecasted that the first tsunami waves will arrive between 08:33 AM to 10:33 AM, 03 Apr 2024 (PST). It may not be the largest and these waves may continue for hours.

Continue reading...

People rescued from buildings in cities of Hualien and Taipei amid continuing aftershocks from Taiwan’s strongest quake in decades

• Taiwan earthquake – live updates

Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years has killed four and injured at least 50, causing building collapses, power outages and landslides on the island, and sparking initial tsunami warnings in southern Japan and the Philippines.

The quake, given a magnitude of 7.7 by Japan’s meteorological agency, struck close to the popular tourist city of Hualien, on Taiwan’s eastern coast, damaging buildings and trapping people amid aftershocks following the quake, which started at 7.58am.

Continue reading...