Rescuers are gearing up to deploy heavy equipment on Saturday in an effort to recover two bodies buried under boulders on a hiking trail in Taiwan, marking the third day since the island nation was rocked by its most powerful earthquake in a quarter-century.
The tragedy unfolded on the Shakadang Trail within Taroko National Park, renowned for its rugged mountainous landscape, where four individuals are still unaccounted for. Search and recovery operations were briefly halted on Friday due to aftershocks but are slated to resume imminently.
Wednesday’s magnitude 7.4 earthquake, centered off Taiwan’s east coast, claimed the lives of at least 12 people, with 10 others still reported missing. Over 600 individuals, including approximately 450 at a hotel within Taroko park, find themselves stranded in various locations due to rockslides and other infrastructural damage.
Survivors have recounted harrowing experiences of being trapped by tumbling rocks, often inside tunnels, until rescue teams could reach them. In Hualien city, efforts are underway to cautiously dismantle a building left precariously tilted over a street.
Taiwan’s relatively low casualty count amid such a powerful seismic event is attributed to stringent construction standards and widespread public education initiatives on earthquake preparedness.
Comparatively, the devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake in 1999 claimed the lives of 2,400 individuals. Among the casualties on the Shakadang Trail are a family of five, with two bodies recovered on Friday—those of a man and a woman—although their identities are yet to be confirmed, according to Taiwanese media reports.
Comments