A strong earthquake struck off the east coast of Taiwan, affecting the entire island and destroying a number of buildings. Press agencies inform about it. Taiwanese authorities are talking about the strongest earthquake in 25 years, which has left at least one person dead and more than 50 injured. After a few hours, the Japanese authorities canceled the tsunami warning for the arrival of the coast of the small islands in the south of the country. The Philippines also issued a warning against a destructive wave.
Taiwan is hit by a devastating earthquake, April 3, 2024
| Photo: ČTK/TVBS via AP
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake had a magnitude of 7.4, while Japanese seismologists put it at 7.7 and Taiwan’s at 7.2. The epicenter of the tremors was located 18 kilometers southeast of the port of Chua-lien in the east of the island.
Focus earthquakewhich struck shortly before eight o’clock in the morning (before 2:00 a.m. CEST), was located at a depth of 35 kilometers, the AP agency reported.
TV footage shows some buildings in the city of Chualien partially disintegrating or collapsing, according to the agencies. According to local media, people remained trapped in them. In the metropolis the island Parts of some older houses and newer office buildings were falling off in Taipei, AP writes. People in the metropolis also felt weaker aftershocks after the strongest first earthquake.
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According to Reuters, authorities are talking about at least one victim of the tremors, which also injured at least 50 people.
Train services were interrupted on the entire island with 23 million inhabitants, some parts of it lost electricity supplies. Local nuclear power plants according to the authorities, they are out of danger.
Tsunami warning
The nearest Japanese islands in the southern prefecture of Okinawa already reported the arrival of a tsunami wave approximately 30 centimeters high 15 minutes after the tremors. The authorities initially issued a warning against a wave up to three meters high, but later canceled it completely. Operations at the airport in the Okinawan administrative center of Naha have been suspended until further notice. Japan they do not report any casualties or major damage.
The tectonically active area is a frequent scene of devastating earthquakes. According to Taiwanese seismologists, the current earthquake is the strongest since 1999, when a 7.6-magnitude tremor left 2,400 dead.
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Japan intervened the last big earthquake at the beginning of this year. The 7.6-magnitude event killed over 200 people and caused a meter-long tsunami and landslides.
