HUALIEN, Taiwan, April 4: The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century rocked Taiwan Wednesday morning, killing nine people, stranding dozens at quarries and a national park, and sending some residents scrambling out the windows of damaged buildings.
HUALIEN, Taiwan, April 4: The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century rocked Taiwan Wednesday morning, killing nine people, stranding dozens at quarries and a national park, and sending some residents scrambling out the windows of damaged buildings.
As of 4:30 p.m., the death toll in a 7.3-magnitude quake in China's Taiwan on Wednesday morning had risen to nine, according to the local emergency operation centre. Data from the center showed that about 821 people were injured following the earthquake that hit the sea area near Hualien County, Taiwan.
TAIPEI, Oct. 24 : A strong earthquake struck northeastern Taiwan on Sunday, with residents reporting violent shaking in the capital Taipei but there were no immediate reports of widespread damage. Taiwan's central weather bureau said the quake was of magnitude 6.5 while the US Geological Survey gave a lower figure of 6.2. It hit northeastern Yilan county at 1:11 pm (0511 GMT) at a depth of 67 kilometres (42 miles).
An AFP reporter who lives in Yilan said the shaking seemed to last some 30 seconds. "The walls of the house were shaking, both sideways and up and down, it felt quite strong," the reporter said. There was no damage in his neighbourhood.
The main quake was followed by a 5.4-magnitude aftershock and Taipei's MRT metro system shut down as a precaution for a little under an hour before service resumed. Tom Parker, a British illustrator who lives in Taipei, said he was riding the subway when the quake hit. "First time I've felt a quake on the MRT. Like a tame rollercoaster," he tweeted, adding he and other commuters were told to shelter in place in the station for now. Many others reported the tremor on social media. "I was scared to death, I screamed in my room," Yu Ting wrote on Facebook. "This earthquake is really big, glass has shattered in my living room." Some grocery stores reported food and other goods were thrown from shelves by the shaking.
Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates. Some earthquakes of this magnitude can prove deadly, although much depends on where the quake strikes and at what depth.
Hualien, a scenic tourist hotspot, was struck by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in 2018 that killed 17 people and injured nearly 300. In September 1999, a 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island's history. However, a 6.2 earthquake struck in December 2020 in Yilan with no major damage or injuries reported.
Taipei [Taiwan], July 9 : Taiwan has received a shipment of 1.13 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by Japan on Thursday.
The vaccine doses were developed by the British-Swedish biotech company AstraZeneca and manufactured under license in Japan, Focus Taiwan reported. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, at a press briefing, thanked Japan for the donation and said inspection of the vaccine shipment will be expedited to allow for faster distribution.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday that the vaccine donations were a gesture of gratitude for Taiwan's aid to Japan in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit his country in 2011.
Motegi said he hopes the vaccines will help curb the spread of the virus in Taiwan, where daily confirmed cases have gradually flattened but a high alert for COVID-19 remains in place due to sporadic cases of the highly infectious Delta variant of the virus.
On June 4, Japan had donated 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan.
The donations come as Japan and Taiwan are strengthening ties, while their relations with Beijing are deteriorating.
Meanwhile, China has accused Taiwan's governing party of preventing the mainland from sending vaccines to Taiwan and falsely claiming that China has hindered its procurement of vaccines.
China has also lambasted Japan for having donated COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan, labelling such a move as a "political performance". Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin had responded sharply when Tokyo said it is considering sending vaccines to Taipei in late May.
"We are firmly against those who exploit the pandemic to put on political shows or even meddle in China's internal affairs," he had said. "I have noticed that Japan can barely ensure adequate supply of vaccines at home."
"I would like to stress that vaccine assistance should be restored to its original purpose, which is to save lives, and should not be reduced to a tool for selfish political gains," he had added.
Taiwan's inoculation program has been on the slow side with President Tsai Ing-Wen's government facing flak over the unavailability of the vaccines.
Taiwan still has not received the ten million AstraZeneca vaccines it ordered between September 2020 and February 2021. In January, Taiwan agreed to purchase five million doses of BioNTech-Pfizer vaccines directly from BioNTech. The deal has remained unfulfilled.
President Tsai Ing-Wen, who handily won re-election last year, accused China of interfering with Taiwan's vaccine procurement to purposely cause delays.
"We were almost finished with the contract with the German supplier, but owing to China's interference, it's been delayed so that until now we have no way to complete it," she told members of her Democratic Progressive Party.
Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung later said that BioNTech had asked Taiwan to change the word "country" in the press release announcing the deal. Taiwan agreed, but the deal still remains unfinished.
To date, 60 per cent of the vaccines in Taiwan are donations from the governments of Japan and the US.
