At least nine people have died and over 1,000 injured after Taiwan was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in 25 years, on Wednesday morning.
According to the AFP, the earthquake struck just before 8 am (local time) and centred off the coast of rural, mountainous Hualien County as people were readying to go to work or school.
In Hualien, buildings inclined at dangerous angles and ground floors crushed, while in the capital Taipei, buildings shook violently and tiles from older buildings fell.
The director of Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Centre, Wu Chien-fu, said the quake was the strongest since a 7.6-magnitude struck in September 1999, killing around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island’s history.
The United States “stands ready to provide any necessary assistance” to Taiwan following a huge earthquake that injured hundreds and killed at least nine people, the White House said on Wednesday.
“We are monitoring reports of the earthquake impacting Taiwan and continue to monitor its potential impact on Japan,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson added in a statement.
