AreaRead the video transcript hereunfold
The earthquake live on TV: The news presenter tries not to let herself be disturbed - but the earth in Taiwan has not shaken as strongly as it did on Wednesday morning for at least 25 years.
The television team's reaction also shows that the East Asian country is relatively well prepared for earthquakes. The damage is still considerable, and the government has declared the most affected county around Hualien a disaster area.
The clean-up work is now in full swing. Emergency services demolish buildings that were dangerously tilted. Fearing aftershocks, many residents of Hualien city spent Thursday night outdoors.
Wang Hsi-Yun, resident:
»I will be able to sleep peacefully again. Hualien is often hit by earthquakes, sometimes large and sometimes small. This time it was special because the earthquake was particularly strong and it shook violently for a long time. This made people here very insecure. Normally we are very used to small earthquakes.«
The day before there was panic in Taiwan's cities. The magnitude 7.2 earthquake caused buildings to collapse and many people were trapped or buried in road tunnels or caves. There were also two Germans among them, but according to the Foreign Office they have now been rescued. According to the government in Taipei, at least nine people died and more than a thousand were injured.
The earth has not completely calmed down since the strong earthquake: in the 24 hours afterwards, seismologists recorded more than a hundred aftershocks.