Terrifying first-person footage captures devastating effects of the Taiwan earthquake
Topics: World News, Environment, Nature, Twitter
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: @yoyonofukuoka
Topics: World News, Environment, Nature, Twitter
First-person footage from the Taiwan earthquake has shown destructive scenes.
Taiwan has been struck by their biggest earthquake in 25 years, measuring 7.4 in magnitude.
Officials have confirmed that at least nine people have died as a result of the natural disaster, and rescue teams are struggling to reach dozens of people that are trapped in buildings and tunnels.
A large majority of the deaths (five out of nine) were caused by falling rocks, including three hikers who were walking on a nearby trail at the time.
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The epicentre of the earthquake is located around 18km (11 miles) south of Hualien city.
A video captured by someone in Taiwan shows a building hanging on its side.
The mountainous region was shaken by huge landslides, which could take a long time to repair.
Tremors as a result were felt as far as the capital city, Taipei, and it initially set off Tsunami warnings on the island and to neighbouring countries.
Reports have said that more than 900 people have been injured so far.
People are said to be trapped in tunnels alongside the Suhua Highway, which runs down the east coast and is one of the most treacherous roads on the island.
It’s known for being highly dangerous, and was cut through the mountainside from Yilan to Hualien in the 1930s.
The road stretches 50km (30 miles) with a number of tunnels in it, and two of them are where tourists are said to be trapped.
Officials do not know at this point what condition they are in, if they are safe, if they are without food and water, and whether they are able to make contact with the outside world.
There are blockages due to the earthquake, but we do not know how bad they are and how long it will take the rescue teams to make their way through them.
Nga Pham, a filmmaker who was in the capital when the earthquake hit, spoke to the BBC about her experience: “I was holding onto my bookcase trying to steady myself because everything else was falling out - the bookcase's books and my glassware and plates etc and I could hear people screaming.
"They were also frantically looking for information and trying to decide what to do.
"So it was really, really scary for about five to ten minutes.
“Actually for me it lasted much longer because inside my head was like - what to do, what to do?
"Luckily, when everything calmed down, I went outside and I saw that the damage was actually not as bad as expected."