Taiwan earthquake: ‘Terrifying’ aftershocks strike as scared locals sleep in tents – and search for missing continues

“Terrifying” aftershocks have led to people sleeping in tents as the search for missing people continues following Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years.

More than 50 people are still missing, including a group of 38 workers who were on their way to a resort in Taroko National Park at the time of the quake.

About two dozen tourists were also stranded in the park, the state news agency said. Four died due to falling rocks.

Helicopters and drones have also been deployed to continue to look for people trapped on the cross-island highway – which goes across a gorge and connects the east and west coast of Taiwan.

Authorities said supplies will be dropped to anyone they find in the gorge, who may have become stuck after visiting the popular tourist destination.

It comes after 77 people who were trapped underground in the Dachingshui and Jinwen tunnels in Hualien County were rescued.

Taiwan‘s earthquake monitoring agency said Wednesday morning’s quake had a magnitude of 7.2 – while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.4 and Japan’s meteorological agency 7.7.

The epicentre of the initial earthquake was about 11 miles southwest of Hualien and about 22 miles deep.

A 52-year-old who gave her name as Yu said “terrifying” aftershocks went on into the night, making her too scared to sleep in her house, which she described as a “mess”.

She instead checked herself into a tent on a sports ground being used for temporary accommodation.

“The aftershocks were terrifying. It’s non-stop. I do not dare to sleep in the house,” she said.

Nine people have died and more than 1,000 were injured after the quake struck in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien county during morning rush hour at 7.58am local time (12.58am UK time).

Buildings have been seen balanced precariously at odd angles after the initial quake, while footage of a swimming pool shows a man in the water as the earthquake causes it to sway from side to side.

Read more:
Highway jolting up and down during quake
Rescue crews search earthquake rubble

Meanwhile there were concerns that the earthquake could lead to supply chain disruption of semiconductor chips from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) – the main contract chipmaker for companies like Apple and Nvidia – after they briefly evacuated some of their factories.

While most facilities are not close to the epicentre, TSMC said on Wednesday work was expected to resume overnight after inspections had taken place.

Dan Hutcheson, vice chair at Canadian research firm TechInsights said: “When you look at the business side of it – will this affect quarterly revenues? – the odds are it won’t. But it’s going to be a real headache for everyone involved to get this stuff back up and running.”