It was a regular Wednesday morning for commuters in Taiwan before the ground shook violently below them. Dashcam footage recorded in eastern Taiwan showed cars forced to stop on the highway as everything from the street lights to buses and cars swayed with the force of the 7.2 magnitude quake.
As everything from bridges to buildings shook violently, rescuers were at work trying to assess the damage. At least four people have died and over 700 are injured in Taiwan’s worst earthquake in 25 years.
In Hualien, the city closest to the epicentre, one building tilted almost 45 degrees after the quake struck. According to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, the shallow earthquake struck at a depth of 15.5km just off the eastern coast of Taiwan
The quake knocked out power in many parts of Taipei.
Videos on social media from multiple locations showed the impact of the quake. A bridge was seen shaking violently. Commuters in the Taipei metro struggled to hold on as the metro was packed with rush hour travellers.
Inside TV studios, the massive rumble also caught on camera as TV anchors struggled to keep their balance.
It triggered a tsunami warning for Japan’s southern prefecture of Okinawa. As per Japan’s weather agency, several small tsunami waves reached parts of Okinawa. The earlier tsunami warning was downgraded to an advisory and the magnitude was revised to 7.7
This was Taiwan’s worst earthquake in 25 years. The last time Taiwan was hit by a severe earthquake was in September 1999.
The 7.6 magnitude quake killed nearly 2500 people in central Taiwan. More than 100,000 homes were destroyed and 10,000 people were injured
In 2016, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake brought down a 17-storey building in south-western Taiwan, killing more than 100 people
Taiwan’s deadliest earthquake till date struck in 1935, where more than 3,200 people died.
