7-2-magnitude-quake-hits-taiwan-tsunami-warning-issued

About nine persons were feared  dead and more than 900 injured as a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, said to be the strongest in 25 years, struck offshore in Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday, damaging buildings and triggering tsunami warnings for Japan and the Philippines. 

 

Even as the Central Weather Station said 76 aftershocks were recorded in less than five hours, scenes of devastation unfolded, with tall buildings swaying, some leaning sideways, roads developing cracks, and landslides hitting parts of the east coast that has been impacted the most  by the tremblor.

 

Television channels in Taiwan aired footage of collapsed buildings in Hualien close to the quake’s epicenter and reported people trapped.

 

The National Fire Agency said many people were trapped in tunnels, which included the Renqing Tunnel and Qingshui Tunnel.

 

Rescuers were pulling out people trapped in collapsed buildings