Aftershocks with a magnitude of at least 5.0 could rock the island in the next two weeks, the government said.
Four people were killed and at least 225 more including tourists were wounded in a magnitude-6.4 earthquake that struck near the coast of Taiwan on Tuesday (February 6), officials said.
As of Wednesday morning 145 people were unaccounted for according to CNA, Taiwan’s official news agency, while at least four buildings had partly collapsed or were left leaning at dangerous angles.
The earthquake caused the ground floor of the Marshal Hotel in Hualien county to cave in, resulting in the death of one employee. The other casualty died in a residential building, reported the national fire and rescue service.
Many of the missing are believed to be trapped inside buildings, including a military hospital, after the quake hit about 22 km (14 miles) northeast of Hualien on Taiwan’s east coast, reported Reuters.
Aftershocks with a magnitude of at least 5.0 could rock the island in the next two weeks, the government said. Japanese, Czech and Mainland Chinese nationals were among the injured.
According to Taiwanese media reports, another hotel known as the Beautiful Life Hotel was tilting, and two people were reported by the county government to be missing in that building.
Media reports also show a road was also fractured in several parts. Bridges and some highways were closed off pending inspections after they buckled due to the force of the quake.
With aftershocks continuing to reverberate, residents were being directed to shelters, which include a newly built baseball stadium, where beds and hot food were provided, reported Reuters.
Rail links appear to remain unaffected and the runway of Hualien airport was intact, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung said from a crisis centre in Taipei.
Flights to the Hualien area have been cancelled, Hsu Kuo-Yung, the spokesperson for the Taiwanese government, said in a news conference shown on SET TV.
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake struck late Tuesday about 21km northeast of Hualien, on the island’s east coast. It occurred at a depth of about 9.5km.
This follows an earthquake that occurred over the weekend off the coast of Hualien, which lies along the famed “Pacific Rim of Fire” known for seismic activity from Alaska to Southeast Asia.