A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village.
A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures.
In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers.
Photo courtesy of the Tainan Fire Bureau
Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan and Chiayi City have all been rescued, the National Fire Agency said.
In Tainan, four people were injured among 11 residents rescued from six collapsed or severely damaged homes in a residential area consisting of single-story houses in Nansi District (楠西), the Tainan Fire Bureau said.
The four sustained minor injuries, such as bruises, and were sent to the hospital.
Photo courtesy of the Chiayi County Government
The remaining evacuees were temporarily sheltered outdoors near the area.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Chiayi County at 12:17am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
The epicenter was 37.9km southeast of Chiayi County Hall, at a depth of 9.7km, CWA data showed.
Photo: CNA
The quake's intensity was highest in Chiayi County, where it measured a 6- on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale.
The earthquake also measured a 5- in neighboring Tainan, as well as in Kaohsiung, CWA data showed.
Bureau officials said they received a report of house collapses on Minzu Road at 12:19am and immediately dispatched rescue teams to the site.
More than 10 single-story houses in the area had collapsed or partially collapsed, with residents trapped inside, fire officials said.
One woman, in her 80s, said she had lived in Nansi her whole life, but had never experienced such a strong earthquake.
Her phone was crushed, and she barely had time to escape to safety, the woman said.
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) visited the area and promised to provide warm clothing, hot meals and other assistance to the affected residents.
Nansi and Dapu have canceled work and school today due to earthquake damage.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) evacuated its employees from several factories in central and southern Taiwan following the quakes.
In a statement, TSMC said the evacuations were carried out at its facilities in the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung and Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan as part of its emergency response procedures.
The company confirmed that all employees at the affected sites are safe.
The Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau also reported that machines at major facilities in the park were shut down as a precaution following the quakes.
Employees were evacuated, and no injuries have been reported, the bureau said.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases. The ministry held a news conference today confirming that the virus was detected at a farm in Wuci District (梧棲) yesterday evening. Authorities preemptively culled 195 pigs at the farm at about 3am and disinfected the entire site to prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry said. Authorities also set up a 3km-radius control zone
RSS