Taiwan earthquake death toll rises to 10; rescuers continue search
Newsy
About 700 people were either still missing or stranded Thursday, including over 600 who were trapped inside a hotel.
Rescuers searched Thursday for dozens of people still missing a day after Taiwan's strongest earthquake in a quarter century damaged buildings, killed 10 people and left others stranded in remote areas.
In the eastern coastal city of Hualien near the epicenter, workers used an excavator to stabilize the base of a damaged building with construction materials as officials took samples of its exterior and chickens pecked among potted plants on its slanted roof.
Mayor Hsu Chen-wei said 48 residential buildings were damaged in Wednesday's quake, some of which were tilting at precarious angles with their ground floors crushed.
Some Hualien residents were staying in tents, and the main road linking the county to the capital, Taipei, was still closed Thursday afternoon, but much of Taiwan's day-to-day life was returning to normal. Some local rail service to Hualien resumed, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., one of the world's most important manufacturers of computer chips, restarted most operations, the Central News Agency reported.
Taiwan is regularly jolted by earthquakes and its population is well-prepared for them. It also has stringent construction requirements to ensure buildings are quake resistant.