At least four killed, 700 injured in strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in quarter century

Taipei, SANA-At least four people were killed and more than 700 injured in a powerful earthquake in Taiwan on Wednesday morning.

“The deaths were recorded in Hualien County, the epicenter of the earthquake, where three of the victims died on a hiking trail and the fourth died in a highway tunnel,” AFP quoted the National Fire Service as saying.

According to Taiwanese meteorology, the magnitude of the earthquake exceeded 7.4 degrees on the Richter scale, while a tsunami early warning center in the Pacific Ocean announced that the risk of high tsunami waves resulting from the violent earthquake had largely passed, but at the same time, it called on residents of coastal areas to stay alert.

Manar Salameh/ Ruaa al-Jazaeri