Hualien County on Taiwan’s east coast is a scenic, sleepy vacationer space tucked away from the island’s city facilities, with a well-known gorge and aquamarine waters. It additionally occurs to take a seat on a number of energetic faults, making it liable to earthquakes.
The county has a inhabitants of about 300,000, based on the 2020 census, a couple of third of whom stay within the coastal metropolis of Hualien, the county seat. It is without doubt one of the most sparsely populated components of Taiwan. About three hours by prepare from the capital, Taipei, town describes itself as the primary place on the island that’s touched by the solar.
Hualien County is dwelling to Taroko Nationwide Park, one in every of Taiwan’s hottest scenic areas. Guests come to discover the Taroko Gorge, a striated marble canyon carved by the Liwu River, which cuts via mountains that rise steeply from the coast. The town of Hualien is a well-liked vacation spot as a gateway to the nationwide park.
In keeping with the state-owned Central Information Company, three hikers have been trapped on a path close to the doorway to the gorge on Wednesday, after the quake despatched rocks falling. Two of them have been discovered lifeless, the information company mentioned. Directors mentioned many roads throughout the park had been minimize off by the earthquake, doubtlessly trapping hikers, based on the report.
Earthquakes have rattled Hualien with some regularity. In 2018, 17 individuals have been killed and tons of of others injured when a magnitude 6.5 quake struck simply earlier than midnight, its epicenter a brief distance northeast of town of Hualien.
Most of the victims in that quake have been in a 12-story constructing that was severely tilted, the primary 4 flooring of which have been largely crushed, based on information reviews from the time. The following yr, the world was shaken by a 6.1-magnitude earthquake that injured 17 individuals.
The world has among the highest concentrations of Taiwan’s aboriginal inhabitants, with a number of of the island’s Indigenous tribes calling the county dwelling.