1 dead after earthquake hits southeast Taiwan, rattling bridges and buildings

One person died and 79 were injured on Sunday when a powerful earthquake hit southeastern Taiwan.

The Central Emergency Operation Centre said a worker at a cement factory in Yuli, Hualien county, was crushed by falling objects and was later pronounced dead at hospital.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck the neighbouring county of Taitung at 2.44pm, just a day after a 6.4-magnitude quake hit the area, according to the island’s Central Weather Bureau.

The epicentre from Sunday’s quake was tracked to Chishang township at a depth of just 7km (4.3 miles), bureau officials said. The one on Saturday was in nearby Guanshan.

The emergency centre said five people were trapped in a convenience store on the ground floor of a three-storey building that collapsed in Hualien.

“We first rescued two people – a 70-year-old man surnamed Chen and his 63-year-old wife at around 4pm and brought a 39-year-old woman surnamed Yeh and her five-year-old daughter out about an hour or so later,” a police officer in Hualien said.

He said the convenience store worker managed to free himself.

The officer said three people fell off Gaoliao Bridge in Hualien as the force of the quake broke the structure into several pieces.

“They were all rescued and sent to hospital for treatment,” he said, adding all three were conscious when rushed to hospital.

The Taiwan Railways Administration said three carriages were derailed at the county’s Dongli station after part of the platform’s concrete canopy collapsed and hit a train.

“All 19 passengers in the carriages were safe and no one was injured,” according to the emergency centre.

Partial collapses were also reported in several other structures in Hualien, including at a primary school, and several bridges were damaged by falling rocks and landslides.

Elsewhere in Taiwan, the entire ceiling of a badminton court in a local government-run sports centre in the northern city of Taoyuan collapsed, injuring one person, according to the centre.

And around 600 people were trapped in the Liushi Mountain scenic area by blocked roads.

Sunday’s quake was felt across Taiwan, with buildings in Taipei shaking briefly, sending some panicked people rushing to the streets.

Chen Kuo-chang, the Seismological Centre director of the island’s weather bureau, said Sunday’s quake was the biggest to hit Taiwan this year.

“The 6.4-magnitude quake on Saturday, which was followed by more than 76 aftershocks, brought forth Sunday’s one,” he said.

“The power of Sunday’s earthquake was equivalent to that of eight atomic bombs.”

No serious damage or casualties were reported during Saturday’s quake, according to police.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a warning for Taiwan after Sunday’s earthquake but later lifted the alert. Japan’s weather agency also lifted a tsunami warning for part of Okinawa prefecture.

Science parks in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to major semiconductor factories, said there was no impact on operations.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s biggest contract chip maker, was quoted by Reuters as saying there was “no known significant impact for now”.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.

More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.