Rescuers in Taiwan are working hard to reach over 600 people stranded after the country was hit by its worst earthquake in 25 years on Wednesday.
The powerful quake, measuring 7.4 in magnitude, struck just south of Hualien County, the worst-affected area, resulting in at least 10 deaths and injuring over 1,000 people. It also trapped hundreds of individuals under collapsed buildings and triggered landslides.
Describing the incident to Hindustan Times, Rageshnath, an Indian student from Hualien, recounted being in his college’s physics lab when the earthquake struck. Despite the chaos, he managed to escape unharmed but witnessed the devastation caused by the quake.
“I got out of the lab and saw no one outside since the students usually arrive around 8.30am. The building was shaking like a boat. Since the lab is on the 4th floor, it was worse in height. I felt like it was my last day,” he shared with the publication.
He also mentioned that a fire broke out due to a short circuit and possible chemical spillage. “After the earthquake, I went inside the lab and there was a short circuit. I am not sure if it was because of the short circuit or chemicals but a fire started. I went up again to the lab and another earthquake came. I got really panicked and tried to extinguish the fire with 7-8 cylinders, but it kept raging. Everything in the lab was collapsed. I couldn’t see or do anything. By this time, a few people came, but nothing happened.”
Another Indian national, Stanislaus Irudayaselvam, a Catholic priest in Taiwan and a professor at the FuJen Catholic University, also shared his experience. He said that while he has experienced several earthquakes in the past 13 years in the country, this one was longer and stronger, lasting for over a minute.
Irudayaselvam, who is currently in Hualien, mentioned that the city was completely cut off from the capital Taipei. He expressed hope that the trains would resume operations by the next day, although the land route might take a few days to recover.
He described the situation as terrible, noting that a 20-meter bridge had collapsed. “It’s really terrible as I’m typing I feel another aftershock. It has been shaking from this morning, has been about 10 hours now, all aftershocks. We had hundreds of them. A house about half a KM from here also fell this morning [Wednesday],” he added.
Girish Hiranandani, an export firm owner and restaurateur in Taipei, who has been living in Taiwan for about 30 years, compared the recent earthquake to the devastating one in 1999 but noted that the damage this time was less severe.
He stated, “Today it is nothing even close to that. We did not see much damage and none of the services have been disrupted for beyond a few hours in Taipei.”
The earthquake evoked memories of the 1999 earthquake in the country, that claimed over 2,400 lives and damaged around 5,000 buildings.
In response to the earthquake, the India Taipei Association (ITA) issued advisories and established helpline numbers to assist Indian nationals living in Taiwan.
According to the ITA, around 4,000 Indians are employed in Taiwan, and the country is home to about 1,500 students. Several Indians reported that the ITA reached out to them within hours of the earthquake.
On Thursday, India confirmed that two of its nationals reported missing in Taiwan following the earthquake have been found safe. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) assured that all necessary steps are being taken to ensure the safety and well-being of Indian citizens in Taiwan.
“As per our information, two persons, we were not able to establish contact in the wake of the earthquake there (in Taiwan). But now, we have established contact and they are safe,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
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