Closing summary
It’s 1am in Taipei. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
At least nine people have been killed and more than 900 injured in Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years, which caused buildings to collapse, power outages and landslides on the island.
The quake, which started at 7.58am on Wednesday, struck about 18km south-southwest of Hualien, a city popular with tourists on Taiwan’s eastern coast, and was given a magnitude of 7.2 by Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency and 7.4 by the US.
More than 100 people remain trapped in tunnels and in collapsed buildings. The fire agency said 64 people were trapped in one coalmine, and six in another, while rescue workers had lost contact with 50 people who were travelling in minibuses through a national park as the earthquake wiped out phone networks.
Nearly 1,000 tourists and staff were stranded in mountains of Taroko national park in Hualien. Local media reported that three hikers and one driver died after rockslides in the park.
In Hualien city, all residents and businesses in buildings that were in a dangerous state had been evacuated, the mayor Hsu Chen-wei said. Rescuers worked across Hualien county, looking for people who may be trapped and using excavators to stabilize damaged buildings.
In the capital, Taipei, several people were rescued from a partly collapsed warehouse. Strong tremors forced the city’s subway system to close briefly, and damage was visible on some buildings in central Taipei. Aftershocks could still be felt in the capital, with more than 50 recorded, weather officials said.
The quake triggered initial tsunami warnings in southern Japan and the Philippines, but forecasts were later downgraded and lifted. Japan’s meteorological agency warned that aftershocks, with a similar intensity to those felt in Taiwan, may be likely over the next week.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Taiwan on Wednesday was captured by the cameras in a newsroom during a live broadcast.
As the quake hit, anchors on air carried on delivering the news while the studio was visibly shaken and lights swayed violently overhead.
