China News Service, April 7 (Xinhua) According to Taiwan's "United Daily News", a strong earthquake in Hualien caused many highway collapses. Taiwan's "Highway Bureau" rushed to open the lower Qingshui Bridge on the Suhua Highway on the evening of the 6th, allowing small vehicles (weight limit 5 tons) to pass, and large vehicles to pass by the end of May. The overall repair will have to wait until the end of the year. The Taroko Park Management Office announced that the restoration period of the park cannot be estimated and it will remain closed.
The rockfall caused by the Hualien earthquake destroyed the Qingshui Bridge under the Suhua Highway. Image source: Taiwan's "United Daily News".
Taiwan's "Highway Bureau" stated that because many slopes in the Daqingshui to Chongde section of the Provincial Highway 9-Suhua Highway need to undergo slope brushing and slope protection projects, many parts of the road also need to undergo pavement renovation, road capacity arrangement and side ditch cleaning. Time management will be implemented for other work. The northern end of the controlled road section is the north entrance of the Renshui Tunnel of the Taiwan-Kowloon Line, and the southern end is the Chongde Control Point. From April 7 to 30, it will be released from 7 am to 8 am, 12 noon to 1 pm, and 5 pm to 6 pm every day. , a total of 3 periods, early warning and closed control will be implemented at night.
Due to constant aftershocks and loose soil and rocks, many places in Taroko Park collapsed due to rockfalls, and the park was severely damaged beyond recognition. The park management office originally announced that it would be closed until the 7th. On the 6th, it announced that the restoration period could not be estimated and would continue to be closed. There was no timetable for the opening of the park.
The picture shows the entrance of Zhongheng Highway in Taroko Park. There are obvious landslide marks on the mountains on both sides of the Liwu River outlet. In front of the archway of the "East-West Crossing Highway", the road on the side of the mountain is covered with large rocks. Photo by China News Service reporter Yang Chengchen
Many trails and scenic spots in Taroko Park were seriously damaged. Lin Zhongshan, deputy director of the Taroko Management Office, said that the damage caused by this strong earthquake can be said to be the worst since the park opened in 1986. At present, there is no way to survey the damage. We can only use the images sent back from the rescue team and ask the mountain friends who came down the mountain. , understand the current disaster situation. However, aftershocks continue and there are still falling rocks, the risk is not small, and the park must continue to be closed.
Taroko Park is famous for its majestic mountains and steep canyons. It is a popular attraction for tourists from all over the world. If the park is closed for a long time, it may seriously affect Hualien's local tourism industry. Liu Yingsan, a professor at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies at Donghua University in Taiwan, said that Taroko is mostly a fragile geology, and there have been many earthquakes in history that changed the grade of the landform. This is the normal state of nature. The damage caused by this earthquake was extensive, and a large amount of money and manpower will inevitably be invested in repairs, which may take years.
According to statistics from the Taiwan Fire Department as of 8:34 a.m. on the 7th, the earthquake has killed 13 people and injured 1,133 people in Taiwan.