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Taiwan earthquake: Two Indians missing, search operations underway
Two Indians are reported to be missing after the earthquake that ravaged Taiwan on Wednesday.
Two Indians are reported to be missing after the earthquake that ravaged Taiwan on Wednesday. The missing Indians are a man and a woman, who were last seen in Taroko Gorge, close to epicentre.
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Search operations are underway to locate them, per people familiar with the matter said. At least nine people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in a quake said to be the strongest in 25 years that rocked Taiwan early in the day.
The quake's epicentre lay off the coast of rural, mountainous Hualien County, where some buildings leaned at severe angles, their ground floors crushed.
Just over 150 kilometers (93 miles) away in the capital of Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings, and schools evacuated their students to sports fields, equipping them with yellow safety helmets.
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Some children were seen covering themselves with textbooks to guard against falling objects as aftershocks continued, AP reported.
Rescue workers fanned out in Hualien, looking for people who may be trapped and using excavators to stabilise damaged buildings. The numbers of people missing, trapped or stranded fluctuated frequently as authorities learned of more in trouble and worked to locate or free them.
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Some 70 workers who were stranded at two rock quarries were safe, according to the fire agency, but the roads to reach them had been damaged by falling rocks. Six workers were going to be airlifted on Thursday.
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“I’ve grown accustomed to (earthquakes). But today was the first time I was scared to tears by an earthquake. I was awakened by the earthquake. I had never felt such intense shaking before,” Hsien-hsuen Keng, a resident of Taipei told the agency.
The quake and aftershocks also caused 24 landslides and damage to roads, bridges and tunnels. The national legislature, a converted school built before World War II, and sections of the main airport in Taoyuan, just south of Taipei, also saw minor damage, the report added.
(With AP inputs)
