Taiwan is willing to send aid, and search and rescue teams to Myanmar and Thailand after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the two countries on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry said it updated its travel advisory on Friday evening, advising people to avoid traveling to Naypyidaw and Mandalay.
The infrastructure in the two cities sustained heavy damage from the main earthquake, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
In some areas of the two cities, buildings have collapsed, roads have cracked, and there have been power outages and Internet cuts, it said, adding that access by land and air has been difficult, affecting communications with the outside world.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Myanmar yesterday reported that it reached out to a Taiwanese woman who had been reported missing, and that she was safe, the ministry said.
A hotel a Taiwanese couple was staying at collapsed, it said.
The husband escaped, sustaining mild injuries, and the wife was trapped in the collapsed building with some staff members of the hotel, but they could communicate with people outside, it said, adding that rescue efforts were under way.
Taiwan’s representative offices in Thailand and Myanmar notified the two countries’ governments of the nation’s willingness to send search-and-rescue teams, and the personnel and equipment are ready, it said.
It has been reported that only Yangon International Airport remains available for air traffic in Myanmar, but Mandalay is about 600km from Yangon, and the status of the roads between the two cities is unclear, it said.
Thailand and Myanmar need to clarify the situation in the disaster areas before responding to Taiwan’s offer, it added.
Meanwhile, China Airlines (中華航空) yesterday said that it would ship disaster relief supplies to Thailand and Myanmar free of charge.
The airline in a statement said that it would do its best to assist Taiwanese and other travelers who have been affected, and work with the government and charity organizations to support quake-hit areas.
Additional reporting by CNA
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
RSS