New Delhi:

A massive earthquake hit Taiwan today, killing four people and injuring at least 60, and triggering tsunami warnings in Japan and the Philippines. Dramatic visuals on social media show buildings shaking, bridges swaying and people scrambling for cover.

According to news agency AFP, the earthquake, 7.4 on the Richter scale, is the strongest quake to hit the island in 25 years, with officials warning of more tremors in the days ahead. Taiwanese officials report that it is the strongest earthquake since the 7.6 magnitude quake that struck the nation in 1999, killing 2,400 people. 

Taiwan was struck by its strongest earthquake in 25 years few minutes ago when a 7.4 magnitude tremor struck the island’s eastern coast, prompting tsunami warnings across the region.

A rooftop swimming pool during the Taiwan earthquake.pic.twitter.com/mepqSLuCIM

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 3, 2024

Videos that have surfaced online show several buildings swaying due to the tremors. Another video shows people stuck on a bridge while it appears to swing because of the massive quake. According to AFP, multi-storey structures in Hualien and elsewhere tilted after the quakes ended, while a warehouse in New Taipei City was reduced to dust. 

台湾の地震のやばすぎ pic.twitter.com/NvcB177RYg

— CP LV.100 (@ssbuBanjo) April 3, 2024

Among the four who died, three were part of a group of seven who were out on a morning hike through the hills that surround Taipei city. The were crushed to death after a landslide sent massive boulders their way. The fourth person killed was reportedly a truck driver whose vehicle was hit by a landslide as he was nearing a tunnel.

If you were terrified of bridges after the Baltimore Key bridge collapse, this footage from the earthquake in Taiwan should calm ya down. pic.twitter.com/vUllK41n7R

— Ｎｅｒｄｙ (@Nerdy_Addict) April 3, 2024

Local Taiwanese TV channels showed bulldozers clearing rocks along roads to Hualien, a mountain-ringed coastal city of around 100,000 people that was cut off by landslides.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called for local and central government agencies to coordinate with each other, and said that the national army would also be providing support.

In Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, authorities initially issued a tsunami warning but by around 10 am (0200 GMT), the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat had “largely passed”.

In the capital, the metro briefly stopped running but resumed within an hour, while residents received warnings from their local borough chiefs to check for any gas leaks.

Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates, while nearby Japan experiences around 1,500 jolts every year.

At least four people were killed and nearly 60 injured on April 3 by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted.

Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates, while nearby Japan experiences around 1,500 jolts every year.

The quake was the strongest since a 7.6-magnitude struck in September 1999, killing around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island’s history.

(Inputs from agencies)

Image taken from a video footage of a woman standing near a partially collapsed building in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on April 3, 2024
| Photo Credit: AP

A powerful earthquake rocked the entire island of Taiwan early Wednesday, collapsing buildings in a southern city and creating a tsunami that washed ashore on southern Japanese islands.

A five-story building in lightly populated Hualien appeared heavily damaged, collapsing its first floor and leaving the rest leaning at a 45-degree angle. In the capital, Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings and within some newer office complexes.

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Train service was suspended across the island of 23 million people, as was subway service in Taipei. But things quickly returned to normal in the capital, with children going to school and the morning commute appearing to be normal.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a tsunami wave of 30 cm (about 1 feet) was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the quake struck. JAMA said waves likely also hit the coasts of Miyako and Yaeyama islands. Japan’s Self Defence Force sent aircraft to gather information about the tsunami impact around the Okinawa region and were preparing shelters for evacuees if necessary.

Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.4. It struck at 7:58 am about 18 km south-southwest of Hualien and was about 35 km (21 miles) deep.

The head of Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring bureau, Wu Chien-fu, said effects were detected as far away as Kinmen, a Taiwanese-controlled island off the coast of China. Multiple aftershocks were felt in Taipei in the hour after the initial quake.

The USGS said one of the subsequent quakes was 6.5 magnitude and 11.8 km deep.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no tsunami threat to Hawaii or the US Pacific territory of Guam.

The quake was believed to be the biggest in Taiwan since a temblor in 1999 caused extensive damage. Taiwan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquake’s occur.