Taiwan earthquake rescuers face threat of landslides, rockfalls as death toll at 12 | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
June 13, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025
Taiwan earthquake rescuers face threat of landslides, rockfalls as death toll at 12

Asia

Reuters
05 April, 2024, 12:25 pm
Last modified: 05 April, 2024, 12:26 pm

Related News

  • Taiwan wants peace and talks with China but must strengthen defences: president
  • Fire Service forms special force for earthquake response
  • Former Taiwan president Tsai to make sensitive visit to Britain this week
  • Taiwan president marks World War Two anniversary, warning indulging aggressors only whets appetite for expansion
  • Tsunami warning for far-south Chile after 7.5-magnitude quake

Taiwan earthquake rescuers face threat of landslides, rockfalls as death toll at 12

Searchers discovered two more bodies after Wednesday's quake of magnitude 7.2 struck the sparsely populated, largely rural eastern county of Hualien, stranding hundreds in a national park as boulders barrelled down mountains, cutting off roads

Reuters
05 April, 2024, 12:25 pm
Last modified: 05 April, 2024, 12:26 pm
People take part in a ceremony ahead of the demolition of a damaged building, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan April 5, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
People take part in a ceremony ahead of the demolition of a damaged building, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan April 5, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Rescuers in Taiwan faced the threat of further landslides and rockfalls in their search on Friday for a dozen people still missing from this week's earthquake, as the death toll rose to 12 and some of the stranded were brought to safety.

Searchers discovered two more bodies after Wednesday's quake of magnitude 7.2 struck the sparsely populated, largely rural eastern county of Hualien, stranding hundreds in a national park as boulders barrelled down mountains, cutting off roads.

As some 50 aftershocks rattled the area overnight, some felt as far away as Taipei, rescuers said about 400 people cut off in a luxury hotel in the Taroko Gorge national park were safe, with helicopters ferrying out the injured and bringing supplies.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"Rain increases the risks of rockfalls and landslides, which are currently the biggest challenges," said Su Yu-ming, the leader of a search team helping the rescue effort.

"These factors are unpredictable, which means we cannot confirm the number of days required for the search and rescue operations."

Taiwan's fire department said two bodies were found in the mountains, but did not immediately update the death toll. It put the number of missing at 18, three of them foreigners of Australian and Canadian nationality.

It dropped from the list of missing an Indian national whose inclusion it called a mistake, but did not elaborate.

A group of 50 hotel workers marooned on a road to the national park are now mostly safe.

"I am lucky to survive," said David Chen, 63, a security manager at the hotel, after his rescue. "We were terrified when the earthquake first happened. We thought it was all over, all over, all over, because it was an earthquake, right?"

Rocks were still tumbling down nearby slopes as the group left, he added. "We had to navigate through the gaps between the falling rocks, with the rescue team out front."

Chen's 85-year-old mother wept in relief on being reunited with her son, as the family had not known for some time if he had survived.

"I was happy when he returned," said the mother, Chen Lan-chih. "I didn't sleep at all last night and couldn't eat anything."

The quake came a day before Taiwan began a long weekend holiday for the traditional tomb sweeping festival, when people head to their homes to spruce up ancestral graves.

Many others visit tourist spots, like Hualien, famed for its rugged beauty, but the earthquake has crushed business, with many bookings cancelled, some businesses said.

"This is a disaster actually for us because no matter (whether) hotel, hostel, restaurants (everything) really depends on tourism," said hostel owner Aga Syu, adding that her main concern was the well-being of guests.

"I hope this won't destroy their image of Hualien."

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. More than 100 people were killed in a 2016 quake in its south, while one of magnitude 7.3 killed more than 2,000 in 1999.

World+Biz

Taiwan / Earthquake

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Rescuers work at the scene of a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
    Israel hits Iran nuclear facilities, missile factories; Tehran launches 100 drones in retaliation
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
    After years of waiting, Israel's Netanyahu finally makes his move on Iran
  • Smart card hitch deprives lakhs in Ctg of TCB products for months
    Smart card hitch deprives lakhs in Ctg of TCB products for months

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • Railway seeks Tk2,000cr foreign loans to revive coach assembly, modernise workshops
    Railway seeks Tk2,000cr foreign loans to revive coach assembly, modernise workshops
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts
  • Brother sues Latifur's daughter, widow over alleged forgery to seize control of Transcom
    Brother sues Latifur's daughter, widow over alleged forgery to seize control of Transcom

Related News

  • Taiwan wants peace and talks with China but must strengthen defences: president
  • Fire Service forms special force for earthquake response
  • Former Taiwan president Tsai to make sensitive visit to Britain this week
  • Taiwan president marks World War Two anniversary, warning indulging aggressors only whets appetite for expansion
  • Tsunami warning for far-south Chile after 7.5-magnitude quake

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

1d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

2d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

4d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

5d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

What did Iran say in response to the Israeli attack?

What did Iran say in response to the Israeli attack?

27m | TBS World
Israel strikes Iran nuclear facilities

Israel strikes Iran nuclear facilities

1h | TBS World
Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

16h | Podcast
What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

18h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net