13 dead, 1,145 injured, 442 stranded or trapped, 6 missing
On 3 April 2024, at 07:58:11 NST (23:58:11 UTC on 2 April), a Mw 7.4 earthquake struck 18 km (11 mi)[2] south-southwest of Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. At least 13 people died and over 1,100 were injured in the earthquake. It is the largest earthquake in Taiwan since the 1999 Jiji earthquake, with several aftershocks above Mw 5.0.[3]
Taiwan has a history of strong earthquakes.[4] The island is located within a complex zone of convergence between the Philippine Sea Plate and Eurasian Plate. At the location of the earthquake, these plates converge at a rate of 75 millimetres (3.0 in) per year. To the south of Taiwan, oceanic crust of the Eurasian Plate is subducting beneath the Philippine Sea Plate creating an island arc, the Luzon Arc. At Taiwan, the oceanic crust has all been subducted and the arc is colliding with continental crust of the Eurasian Plate. To the north of Taiwan, the Philippine Sea Plate is in contrast subducting beneath the Eurasian Plate, forming the Ryukyu Arc.[5]
Earthquake
USGS ShakeMap
Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA) measured the earthquake's local magnitude at 7.2,[6] while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) placed the earthquake at Mw 7.4.[7] At least 603 aftershocks were recorded following the earthquake.[8] A Mw 6.4 aftershock struck at 00:11 UTC,[9] followed by a Mw 5.7 event at 00:35,[10] a Mw 5.5 at 00:43[11] and a Mw 5.7 at 00:46.[12] The mainshock was the strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan since the 1999 Jiji earthquake, which measured Mw 7.7.[13]
The earthquake had a focal mechanism corresponding to reverse-faulting at a 34.8 km (21.6 mi) depth. According to the USGS, the rupture occurred on a northeast–southwest-striking, moderately dipping, reverse fault within the Eurasian Plate. The estimated rupture dimensions for a similarly sized reverse-faulting earthquake is 60 km (37 mi) by 35 km (22 mi). Its finite fault model indicated rupture on an east-southeast dipping plane. The slip occurred within an elliptical rupture area 60 km (37 mi) by 60 km (37 mi) on the plane. The maximum displacement was estimated at 1.2471 m (4 ft 1.10 in).[7] The shock's magnitude was identical to a 1986 earthquake that killed 15 people in Hualien.[20]
The China Earthquake Administration (PRC) estimated the earthquake rupture process did not exceed 35 seconds in duration. The slip was distributed across a fault 50 km (31 mi) across. According to their finite fault model, slip was mainly concentrated around the epicenter, reaching 3 m (9.8 ft) of maximum displacement. The model's geometry consists of a northeast striking fault dipping at a shallow angle to the northwest. About 1 m (3 ft 3 in) of slip occurred at the shallow part of the fault that reaches the seafloor off the island's coast.[21]
Thirteen fatalities have been reported, along with a total of 1,145 people injured and 442 others declared stranded. Six people were listed as missing,[38] including two foreigners.[39] The National Fire Agency recorded at least 1,151 earthquake-related incidents.[40][41]
All fatalities occurred in Hualien County. Among the dead were four killed in Taroko National Park, including three hikers[40] who were caught in a rockfall. Another person died when rockfalls occurred at the Daqingshui Tunnel along the Suhua Highway and crushed his truck.[18][42] One person also died after their car was hit by a falling boulder at the parking lot of the Huide Tunnel along the Suhua Highway, while another fatality occurred inside a mine in Hejen after a rock fall.[18][43] A woman in Hualien died after she returned to her building to retrieve her cat, during which she was pinned down by a column following an aftershock.[44]
Taiwan's earthquake alert system did not send an advance alert of the mainshock, unlike in previous instances.[45] Authorities later said that they had initially estimated the earthquake to be of a smaller magnitude[46] ranging between 6.2 and 6.8. The CWA Seismology Center later clarified that it had sent out two alerts that covered the immediate area of the epicenter as well as parts of southern and central Taiwan but not the Taipei area, adding that conditions for issuing a national-level warning depended on the earthquake measuring a magnitude above five and its intensity reaching four on the CWA's seven-level scale.[47]
Six hundred people were stranded in Taroko National Park.[48] Twelve park visitors, including two Canadian nationals, were stranded along a trail,[22] while 40 others were injured. Injuries were also reported across Hualien City, Yilan, Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taichung and Taoyuan due to falls or toppled objects.[16][42] Sixty people were trapped inside the 400 m (1,300 ft) Jinwen Tunnel along the Suhua Highway, while 50 employees of the Silk's Place Hotel Taroko who were traveling in four minibuses were also declared trapped after none of them could be contacted by authorities over the phone.[22] The hotel management later said that the employees were safe, citing three staff who had reached the hotel on foot.[48] A rescued employee later said that their convoy had been trapped in a tunnel following a rockfall and that the vehicle she was in was severely damaged by a rock.[49] The road immediately outside the Qingshui Tunnel caved in, trapping several people inside.[50] Seventy people were also trapped in two rock quarries,[51] while nine people were trapped inside a cave.[52]
The Central Emergency Operation Center reported at least 2,498 cases of damage nationwide following the earthquake, with 1,140 instances in Taipei, 497 in New Taipei and 366 in Hualien County.[53] At least 780 buildings[54] and 35 road infrastructures were damaged by the earthquake.[51][16] Of the 28 reported building collapses, 17 of them occurred in Hualien, while the other 11 occurred in Yilan, New Taipei and Keelung.[43] Collapses trapped at least 20 people in the immediate aftermath.[55] Twelve buildings deemed unsafe were ordered demolished by authorities.[56] In Hualien City, two houses, the nine-story Uranus building and a restaurant collapsed, trapping many people inside.[57][58] One person was found dead[40] while 22 others were later rescued from the Uranus building,[22] which was built in 1986 before more stringent building codes were introduced after the 1999 Jiji earthquake and was found to be lacking supporting ground-floor front pillars.[59] Forty-eight residential buildings in the city were damaged,[46] and the National Hualien Girls' Senior High School also sustained heavy damage.[60][61] At least 200 residents living near the epicenter were displaced.[46]
In Taipei, 249 people were injured, six of them seriously, and 10 houses were severely damaged.[62] A warehouse collapsed in New Taipei City, causing three minor injuries.[63] Fifty people were subsequently rescued from the building.[18] Tiles were dislodged and fell off older buildings and some newer structures in the capital.[32] The Legislative Yuan building also sustained damage to its walls and ceilings,[27] while debris fell from the Liberty Square archway of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.[19]Subsidence in Xindian District caused seven houses to collapse, forcing 12 people to evacuate.[64] A viaduct of the New Taipei Circular Line was reported to be misaligned, and all service on the Taipei Metro was briefly suspended for safety checks.[65] Nevertheless, train service through the epicenter region was restored within 24 hours.[66] A portion of the ceiling in Taoyuan International Airport collapsed.[16] Another 68 people were injured in Yilan City, where walls collapsed and water pipes ruptured.[67]
Power outages affected 371,869 homes in Taiwan according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs,[48] of which, 14,833 were in Taichung; 5,306 were restored within approximately 25 minutes of the earthquake.[68] Electricity was restored in 70 percent of households within two hours of the earthquake by Taipower,[69] leaving around 91,000 homes without power.[22] By the morning of 4 April, the number was reduced to 337.[53] Water shortages affected 125,675 households,[48] while outages of natural gas affecting 394 households[53] and internet disruptions were also reported.[70][71] Eighty cell phone base stations were damaged.[48] There were reports of damaged walls, debris and toppled bricks across much of the island.[16]High-speed railway services across Taiwan were partially suspended and major expressways in the eastern part of the island were closed.[19] No anomalies were recorded in any of Taiwan's three nuclear plants.[72]
Twenty-four landslides were recorded following the earthquake.[51] A massive landslide occurred near Xiulin.[73] The Suhua Highway was closed after sections of it were struck by at least nine rockfalls. Rockfalls occurred on another highway which hit at least 12 cars and injured nine people.[74] A landslide along Provincial Highway 9 between Su'ao and Hualien blocked traffic at Chongde railway station, while a rockfall also occurred in the Heren-Chongde section of the Eastern Trunk line in Hualien.[69] A section of the Central Cross-Island Highway between Dayuling and Taroko was also closed.[42] Two German nationals were reported to have been trapped in a tunnel in Hualien.[22] In Taichung, rockfalls blocked a road, damaging three cars and injuring a driver.[75] A large portion of Guishan Island collapsed into the sea.[76]
The Ministry of Agriculture estimated agricultural damage from the earthquake at NT$68.78 million (US$2.14 million), with Hualien County accounting for NT$42.80 million. Most of the damage in the county came from losses to the fishing industry, while crop losses primarily affected wood ear mushrooms. The ministry also said Hualien incurred NT$25.98 million in damage to agricultural infrastructure, with NT$13.98 million coming from fishing ports.[81]
Railway services were temporarily suspended in parts of eastern China due to the earthquake.[17]
Response
Incumbent Taiwanese presidentTsai Ing-wen expressed concern about the damage and ordered the ROC Armed Forces to support the local government in Hualien and others parts of the island in rescue missions. Vice-president and president-elect Lai Ching-te called on the public to be careful and stay calm and announced the formation of an emergency centre to deal with the disaster.[16] In the afternoon of 3 April, Lai visited Hualien County to inspect rescue and relief efforts,[82] while PremierChen Chien-jen visited temporary shelters for displaced residents in Hualien on 4 April.[46][83] Chen also announced that the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics would allocate NT$300 million (US$9,366,144) in disaster relief to the Hualien County government and would exempt from taxation income received by affected residents taking up temporary employment because of the earthquake. Tsai, Lai, Chen and Vice PremierCheng Wen-tsan also pledged to donate a month's worth of their salaries for disaster relief.[84] Tsai also warned citizens against non-essential travel to mountains for the long weekend brought about by the Qingming Festival, which began a day after the earthquake.[85]
Hualien County magistrate Hsu Chen-wei said all residents and businesses in buildings that were in a dangerous state had been evacuated.[86] Helicopters were deployed by the National Airborne Service Corps[49] to rescue at least 82 stranded individuals,[87] including trapped miners[88] and drop food to stranded individuals pending rescue. Emergency workers propped up the Uranus building with gravel and rocks to prevent it from completely falling over in an aftershock.[89] Demolition works on the building are set to begin on 5 April.[59] The Health Ministry placed medical staff in Yilan and Taitung on stand-by to help victims in Hualien.[43] The New Taipei City Government opened 15 shelters for 269 displaced residents[48] and offered free bus rides to alleviate complications on transportation brought by the earthquake, particularly on the railway system.[54]
Several semiconductor firms, including Powerchip, InnoLux, UMC, King Yuan Electronics Company [zh], Taimide Tech, and TSMC temporarily suspended operations and evacuated their facilities in Hsinchu. TSMC said it expected losses of about $60 million from the earthquake[16][92][93] and reported minimal damage to some of its facilities and equipment,[18] adding that more than 70 percent of its chip manufacturing equipment had resumed production later on 3 April.[94] Other manufacturers resumed operations on 4 April.[95] The Taiwan Stock Exchange continued regular operations on 3 April despite the earthquake.[27]
The Health Ministry and the Hualien County government set up dedicated bank accounts and online platforms for receiving earthquake-related donations. The Finance Ministry also said that 12 government-owned businesses would donate a total of NT$21 million.[84] The Health Ministry said it had received at least NT$32 million in donations by 5 April.[96] Several prominent Taiwanese firms announced donations towards disaster relief. Foxconn pledged NT$80 million while its founder, Terry Gou personally pledged NT$60 million. Taishin Financial Holdings pledged NT$10 million while Acer Inc. pledged NT$6 million.[80]Quanta Computer and Fubon Financial Holding Co. respectively pledged donations of NT$50 million for earthquake relief, while Wanin International Co., Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corp., and Yageo pledged a combined total of NT$36 million.[84] The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China and the Tzu Chi foundation provided meals and shelters to displaced residents.[97]
Taipei 101 was lit up on the night of 3 April in memory of the victims of the earthquake.[18]
Following criticism over alleged lapses in issuing warnings over the earthquake, the CWA said that it would issue a national-level warning for future incidents and adjust conditions for issuing alerts to accommodate a flexible margin of error, rather than just taking a single value into account to ensure enough time for preparations by the public.[47]
International reactions
Countries
The Taiwan Affairs Office of the People's Republic of China (PRC) said it was highly concerned with the earthquake and was willing to provide disaster relief assistance.[98] In response, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council expressed thanks for its concern but said that there would be no request for assistance from Taiwan.[50] Lai Ching-te, however, wrote to Japanese prime ministerFumio Kishida on X, "Let us continue to help each other and join hands to overcome these difficult times". This is the second instance of Taipei rebuffing China's aid; after the 2018 Hualien earthquake, it turned down a $3 million donation from the PRC as well as Beijing's offer of search and rescue workers, but later accepted assistance from other countries.[99] On 4 April, the Taiwanese foreign ministry condemned the PRC for its "shameless use of the Taiwan earthquake to conduct cognitive operations internationally" after Geng Shuang, Beijing's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said China is "ready to provide disaster relief" and thanked "the international community for their care and good wishes" at a UN meeting.[100][101] The ministry also criticized Bolivia for expressing solidarity with China over the earthquake.[102]
Japan deployed military aircraft to observe possible damage in Okinawa Prefecture following the tsunami alert.[27] The Japanese government later announced that no damage had occurred.[32] Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed condolences and sympathy with Taiwan and offered the government's support,[103] with Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announcing a donation of $1 million on 5 April.[87] The United States said that it was "ready to provide any necessary assistance".[104] At least 47 countries, including those with no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, as well as the European Union, expressed sympathies and offered support to Taiwan.[a][105][106][107]
Private entities
Multinational firms such as Japan's Kura Sushi and South Korea's Coupang pledged NTS$2 million each for disaster relief, while FamilyMart and 7-Eleven opened donation channels in their respective mobile applications. Cathay Financial Holdings pledged NT$30 million, while Shin Kong Financial Holdings pledged NT$10 million, with NT$6 million specifically earmarked to the Hualien County government.[84]
^including Paraguay, Guatemala, Palau, Eswatini, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Japan, the Philippines, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, France, Ukraine, the United States, China, Estonia, Latvia, South Korea and Vatican City
^Molli G.; Malavieille J. (2010). "Orogenic processes and the Corsica/Apennines geodynamic evolution: insights from Taiwan". International Journal of Earth Sciences. 100 (5): 1207–1224. doi:10.1007/s00531-010-0598-y. S2CID129517282.
.jpg)
