On the 11th day after Hualien County was hit by an earthquake which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, search and rescue workers recovered the body of a truck driver yesterday morning, with two other people still listed as missing.
The body of the truck driver was found in a quarry in the Ho Jen mining area of Sioulin Township (秀林) in Hualien at 11:45am yesterday.
After days of effort using heavy machinery to clear blocked routes, a search and rescue team reached the area where the body was on Friday, an officer from the Hualien County Fire Department said.
Photo courtesy of the Hualien Fire Department
Yesterday, the team used the machinery to dig five meters down and found sandbags and the front of a white pickup truck, which was later identified by the employer as the vehicle driven by the missing driver, the officer said.
The driver’s body was recovered after the search and rescue team dug further, the officer added.
Meanwhile, a Singaporean couple believed to have been hiking the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) when the earthquake struck remains unaccounted for.
The search continued yesterday, with a search team entering the Shakadang waterfall area 2.4km from the start of the trail yesterday morning.
With the confirmation of the driver’s death, the official death toll from the Hualien earthquake on April 3 has risen to 17.
Separately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the Thai government on Friday for its NT$1 million (US$31,018) donation for earthquake relief.
In a statement, the ministry said it was informed by the Thailand Trade and Economic Office about the donation to the designated account established by Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Thanking Thailand for its offer to assist with reconstruction efforts in Hualien County, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it hoped the goodwill between the two countries could continue to grow and lay the groundwork for further international cooperation.
In a separate release yesterday, the ministry also extended thanks to Lithuania for announcing a donation of 50,000 euros (US$53,244) to assist in the post-quake reconstruction.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on X that the donation demonstrates solidarity between the people of Lithuania and Taiwan.
In other news, Chiayi County experienced eight earthquakes from late Friday to yesterday morning, the the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that they are likely unconnected to the massive Hualien quake that struck on April 3, or the Meishan Fault.
From 11:43pm on Friday to 6:50am yesterday, Chiayi was hit by a total of eight earthquakes, a tremblor measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale being the most powerful, with its epicenter in Budai Township (布袋), 14.5km southwest of Chiayi County Hall, the CWA said.
CWA Seismological Center director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) said the CWA believes the earthquakes in Chiayi were not related to the Meishan Fault and are also separate from the Hualien earthquake.
An earthquake is likely to occur where plates collide, Wu said, adding that these quakes were relatively far from the Meishan Fault and are therefore unlikely to be related to the fault.
It is possible that there would be more earthquakes in the coming days, but the magnitude is expected to be limited, he said, while urging the public to take precautions as Taiwan is an earthquake-prone island.
After the earthquake in Hualien County on April 3, there have been concerns that it could trigger strong temblors in other parts of the country.
One area of particular concern is Chiayi County, where the Meishan Fault — which has reached its once-in-a-century activity cycle — is located.
The Chiayi area has experienced 23 quakes since the beginning of the year, 19 of which were this month, CWA statistics show.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS