Taiwan Earthquake, 52 People Still Missing

JAKARTA - A total of 52 people are still missing in Taiwan after an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 hit the island's east coast.

The quake also killed nine people and injured more than a thousand others, TVBS news reports said on Thursday.

The epicenter was in the Hualien region, which is home to about 300 thousand of the 23 million people living in Taiwan.

While rescue efforts continue, 93 people are trapped in the eastern part of Hualien. The earthquake, the strongest ever hit Taiwan in 25 years, caused damage to infrastructure and disruption to traffic and power supply systems in the region.

About 2,400 people died in 1999 when an earthquake measuring 7.7 magnitude hit Taiwan in the middle of the night.

Reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Thursday, April 4, Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen deployed military personnel to the affected areas, and soldiers equipped with search and rescue equipment and debris diggers were also involved in the effort.

Taiwanese Railways Company said the railway line between the Yilan and Hualien areas, which closed on Wednesday after the earthquake, reopened.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. also continued production on Wednesday night, after being temporarily suspended.