(WNAM Monitoring): An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 struck off the east coast of Taiwan on Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring more than 800 in the territory’s strongest temblor in 25 years, while small tsunami reached nearby islands in Japan’s southwest.
The biggest quake to hit the island since one that struck central Taiwan in 1999 triggered landslides in Hualien County and left 77 people trapped in highway tunnels, local authorities and reports said. Nearly 1,000 people were also reported to have been stranded following the quake at Taroko park, a mountainous area with a number of gorges.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen set up an emergency response office and said the military would be dispatched to quake-hit areas for relief operations.
President-elect Lai Ching-te, the current vice president who will be inaugurated as Tsai’s successor on May 20, visited Hualien and said saving lives is the top priority, according to the presidential office.
High-speed railway services on the island were partially suspended and major expressways in eastern Taiwan were closed due to debris, but the safety of all the island’s nuclear plants was confirmed.
