Massive earthquake in southeastern Taiwan, many buildings collapse

• A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Taiwan on Sunday.
• The quake caused train cars to derail, a convenience store to collapse, and hundreds of people to get stuck on mountain roads.
• It came after a 6.4 magnitude quake in the same area on Saturday night.

The weather bureau of Taiwan said that a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit the sparsely populated southeastern part of the island on Sunday. The quake caused train cars to derail, a convenience store to collapse, and hundreds of people to get stuck on mountain roads.

The center of the quake was in Taitung county, according to the weather service. It came after a 6.4 magnitude quake in the same area on Saturday night, which did not hurt anyone.

The U.S. Geological Survey said that the earthquake on Sunday had a magnitude of 7.2 and was 10 km deep (six miles).

The fire department in Taiwan said that all four people who were in a building that collapsed in Yuli and housed a convenience store were saved. Also, three people whose car fell off a damaged bridge were saved and taken to the hospital.

The Taiwan Railways Administration said that six carriages came off the tracks at Dongli station in eastern Taiwan after part of the platform canopy collapsed. However, the fire department said that no one was hurt.

The department said that more than 600 people are stuck on the beautiful Chike and Liushishi mountain ranges because the roads are closed. No one has been hurt, and rescuers are working to get the roads open again.

After the quake, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center put out an alert for Taiwan, but it was later taken down. A tsunami warning for part of Okinawa prefecture was lifted by Japan’s weather service.

The weather service said that the quake could be felt all over Taiwan. Buildings in the island’s capital, Taipei, shook for a short time, and the island has continued to shake from aftershocks.

Science parks in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, where many large semiconductor factories are located, said that operations were not affected.

The world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW), said there was “no known significant impact for now.”

Taiwan is close to where two tectonic plates meet, which is why it has a lot of earthquakes.

In 2016, an earthquake in southern Taiwan killed more than 100 people. In 1999, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,000 people.

Also Read

Papua New Guinea is shaken by a powerful 7.6 earthquake

The damage remains unclear, photos showed debris strewn across highways and cracks...