Heavy equipment is set to be utilised in Taiwan this coming Saturday by rescuers, aiming to find bodies left in the wake of the past Wednesday’s earthquake. Emergency personnel are currently working to extract two bodies entombed beneath boulders on a hiking trail, following the largest earthquake to occur in Taiwan in a quarter of a century.
The Shakadang Trail, located within the Taroko National Park known for its challenging mountainous landscape, is also the last known location of four missing individuals. The search and recovery efforts were paused on Friday afternoon due to ongoing aftershocks, but they are scheduled to recommence soon.
The earthquake of 7.4 magnitude, which hit off the east coast of Taiwan on Wednesday morning, claimed at least twelve lives, with ten individuals still unaccounted for. A family of five is amongst the unidentified man and woman found, and those still missing on the Shakadang Trail.
There are over 600 people stranded at various locations due to rockslides blocking routes and other damage caused by the quake. This includes approximately 450 staying in a hotel within Taroko National Park. Some survivors reported being trapped by falling rocks on roads and in tunnels until they were rescued. In Hualien city, a building dangerously leaning over a street is being methodically dismantled.
The number of fatalities resulting from such a devastating seismic event is, relatively speaking, low. It’s claimed that strict building regulations and comprehensive public education regarding earthquakes on the island, which is susceptible to such disasters, have contributed to this.
Such a significant seismic event has not been seen since 1999 when a 7.7 magnitude earthquake resulted in the loss of around 2,400 lives, marking Wednesday’s earthquake as the strongest in recent memory.