TAIWAN RESCUES: EARTHQUAKE 2024

Taipei, TaiwanCNN — Around 400 people are still stranded and awaiting rescue in
Taiwan after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck this week, the island’s fire
department said Saturday.

Authorities have said those listed as stranded are considered safe, but are cut off
by landslides and other blockages on rural roads near the island’s hard-hit east
coast.

The death toll from the quake has risen to 13, Taiwan’s National Fire Agency (NFA)
said, after three bodies were found on a walking trail through the mountainous
region. Two were discovered on Friday and one on Saturday, the NFA added, saying
teams were still working to confirm the identities of those recovered.

The tremor, Taiwan’s most powerful in 25 years , rocked the entire island on
Wednesday and was felt as far away as Hong Kong and Shanghai.

More than a thousand people are being treated for injuries, and six people are still
missing, authorities said.

In Hualien County, the worst-affected region, buildings buckled and landslides were
triggered. Survivors told CNN that many local shops and businesses, some operating
for over a decade, were gone in one morning.

Rescue operations on Saturday continued to be hampered by bad weather,

according to Taiwanese authorities, who had planned to send a technician and a
low-orbit satellite to aid efforts.

Victims of the earthquake have been mostly killed outdoors by falling rocks or
landslides. Four of them were hiking in Taroko Gorge, four died on mountainous
highways, and another was working at a remote quarry, according to authorities.

So far, only one person has been killed in a collapsed building – the Uranus Building
in downtown Hualien. She initially escaped but went back to rescue her pet cat,
CNN affiliate SET reported .