Taiwan quake: Search and rescue efforts continue to find six still missing

TAIPEI: Six people remain unaccounted for after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan on the morning of April 3, amid search and rescue efforts, according to the Central Emergency Operation Centre (CEOC) on Monday.

Citing data from the National Fire Agency, the Cabinet-level CEOC said rescue efforts have intensified along Shakadang Trail in Taroko National Park, near the epicentre of the temblor, in an attempt to find the six missing people as soon as possible, according to Central News Agency (CNA).

Five people have been reported missing along the Shakadang Trail and the National Fire Agency has dispatched a search team with the help of search dogs and excavators to find them, the CEOC said.

The fire agency received a tip that a missing Singaporean couple were spotted on the Shakadang Trail, the CEOC added, noting that the couple, both of whom also hold Australian citizenship, are likely to be close to the 1.5-km mark.

In addition to the Shakadang Trail, the CEOC said search efforts will also continue in a quarry site in Hualien, where one person was reported missing.

The epicentre of the quake, the largest in nearly 25 years in Taiwan, was located in the Pacific Ocean, 25.0 kilometres south-southeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 15.5 km, according to the Central Weather Administration's (CWA) Seismology Centre.

The temblor resulted in at least 13 fatalities and 1,145 people injured with six still missing, according to the CEOC.

-- BERNAMA