2 people reported missing in Taiwan quakes safe: Centre

New Delhi: The Indian government informed that the two Indians who were reported missing earlier after the strong earthquake in Taiwan are safe. Union External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in his weekly briefing that two people with whom the ministry was not able to establish contact during the earthquake are safe, NDTV reported.

Taiwan was struck by a strong earthquake of 7.2 magnitude, which was the strongest in 25 years. It struck the country’s mountainous Hualien County on Wednesday morning. The quakes killed at least 10 people and injured a hundred others. Visuals of the disaster appeared online, which showed buildings shaking, bridges swaying, and people running for cover. Some buildings were seen leaning at severe angles, and the ground floors were ruined. A search is still going on to find more than a dozen missing people.

The tremors, which commenced at 7:58 am local time, caused chaos and panic as residents and tourists alike scrambled for safety amid collapsing structures and aftershocks. Videos circulated on social media depicting rescuers pulling children from the rubble of residential buildings, while the city of Hualien itself bore witness to the devastation with a five-storey building heavily damaged, its first floor obliterated, and the entire structure listing precariously at a 45-degree angle.

The quakes triggered tsunami warnings in Japan and the Philippines.

According to reports, there were dozens of aftershocks reported from Hualien overnight. Some of these were felt in Taipei, which is more than 150 km away. Here, tiles fell off from older buildings and schools were evacuated as part of safety measures.

Taiwan is prone to earthquakes since it is located near the junction of two tectonic plates. An earthquake in 2016 killed more than 100 people in southern Taiwan. In 1999, another earthquake killed more than 2,000 people.