70 workers stuck in quarries after Taiwan earthquake

According to local media, 70 workers in Taiwan are trapped in two quarries after the island was hit by a major earthquake this morning.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale, the strongest earthquake in 25 years. At least nine deaths and more than 800 injuries have already been counted. All the deaths occurred in the Hualien region, near the epicenter of the quake in the east of the island, the national disaster management agency said.

Three of the victims died on a hiking trail when they were crushed by falling rocks. A fourth victim, a truck driver, was struck as he approached a tunnel. Train traffic was stopped on the entire island. Hundreds of thousands of families were without power for hours.

READ ALSO. Taiwan hit by the strongest earthquake in 25 years: at least nine dead and more than 800 injured

Bulldozers have been deployed to clear rocks blocking roads to Hualien, according to footage broadcast by local TV stations. The main roads into the city pass through several tunnels and authorities fear that vehicles and passengers could become trapped there. “We must carefully check how many people are trapped and we must rescue them quickly,” said Vice President Lai Ching-te , who will become Taiwan’s new president in May.

According to the American seismological institute USGS, the earthquake occurred Wednesday morning just before 8 a.m. local time, 18 kilometers from the city of Hualien and at a depth of 35 kilometers. Less than fifteen minutes later, an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.4 occurred 11 kilometers from Hualien and at a depth of 13 kilometers. More than a hundred aftershocks were recorded in the hours after the quake.