A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake shakes Taiwan and leaves at least four dead

Efe Beijing

Beijing

Updated Wednesday, April 3, 2024-07:04

At least four people died and more than 50 were injured this Wednesday due to the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that shook the coasts of Taiwan

early in the morning

, official sources reported.

Three of the deceased are climbers who were at the entrance to the canyon of the Taroko National Park, in

Hualien

, and were hit by a rock avalanche, according to the official CNA agency, while no information is yet known about the third.

The epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred at 7:58 on Wednesday (23:58 GMT on Tuesday), was located in the sea, 25 kilometers southeast of Hualien county (east), with a depth of 15.5 kilometers, and caused an alert tsunami on the island, according to Taiwan's Central Meteorological Agency.

Japanese authorities also issued a tsunami warning for the

Okinawa

archipelago (southern Japan) for

waves of up to 3 meters.

Taiwan's Central Meteorological Agency (CMA) urged people in coastal areas of the island to

be alert and take measures

to prevent possible sudden changes in sea level.

People residing in Taipei also published on the social network X that the movement was strongly felt in the Taiwanese capital, where

the buildings shook continuously for more than a minute.

The subway in the cities of Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung suspended operations for almost an hour due to the earthquake, according to the official Taiwanese agency CNA.

According to the AMC, the tremor was felt with an intensity of more than 5 degrees in the counties of Yilan (east) and Miaoli (north), and with an intensity of 5 in the cities of Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan and the Hsinchu county (north), in addition to the city of Taichung and the counties of Changhua and Nantou, in the east of the island.

Philippines activates tsunami warning

The Philippine authorities activated the tsunami warning on their northern coasts of the archipelago this Wednesday as a result of the earthquake. "Based on tsunami wave models (...) the coastal areas of the Philippines facing the Pacific Ocean are expected

to experience high waves,"

the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.

According to the agency, the first waves are expected to arrive between 8:33 and 10:33 local time (0.33 and 2.33 GMT) and

may continue for hours.

The Philippine authorities recommend that the population of the coastal areas of more than twenty provinces "immediately evacuate" their homes and move "to higher areas inland."