China Daily brings us the daily report on the massive earthquake in Taiwan.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Sirens]
00:06 This is the base of operations for the rescue operations that have been taking place
00:10 in the Turaco Gorges National Park in Hualien,
00:13 after the 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit the island
00:17 in the early hours of morning on Wednesday.
00:19 Here, hundreds of rescue workers have been working tirelessly
00:22 to make sure that they could rescue some of the people still stranded.
00:26 There are still 700 people stranded and 42 unaccounted for
00:31 following the tremors and the aftershocks on Wednesday.
00:34 And one of those such people was Henry Hancock,
00:38 who gave me his harrowing tale of being in the passage of the Nine Trails
00:43 at the time of the earthquake.
00:45 He told me he was blinded by the dust and hit by a rock in his face
00:49 when the earthquake hit, and being uncertain at the time
00:51 of whether the aftershocks would collapse the tunnel or not.
00:55 He stayed in the tunnel for two hours,
00:58 waiting out and trying to figure out the best time to go.
01:01 After two hours, he bravely decided to try and exit through this small passageway,
01:05 where he describes rocks hanging from the ceiling being held only by rebar
01:09 and gravel falling out as he crawled out.
01:11 By the time he was out, he was able to rejoin with some 60 other hikers
01:15 that were stranded in the Silk's Five Star Hotel,
01:18 where staff were able to accommodate for food, first aid, and helicopter supplies
01:23 as soon as they were able to.
01:25 By his report, other guesthouses and hotels have been making all the efforts they could
01:30 to accommodate some of the hikers that have been stranded,
01:33 despite being quite occupied as well.
01:35 From the Silk's Five Star Hotel, he was able to take a helicopter to Hualien
01:40 to get treatment and give me his account.
01:43 The road to the Taroko National Park has been closed off due to large rocks,
01:47 and that's also the case for the road connecting Yilan and Hualien counties.
01:52 Due to some sections of the road being taken over by landslides
01:56 and one large section having completely collapsed.
01:59 This is expected to take several weeks to be able to get it back in place,
02:03 and the Taroko National Park, there is still no timeline for when tourists and guests
02:09 will be able to go back in, because obviously guests are still stuck inside of the park.
02:14 Unfortunately, not all were as lucky as Mr. Hancock,
02:17 as there are still 42 people unaccounted for and waiting with bated breath
02:21 as the three-day mark is soon to hit.
02:25 The largest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years has claimed the lives of 10 victims,
02:30 five of those being in the Taroko Gorges National Park,
02:33 with the latest one being a few kilometers away from where I am right now.
02:38 The aftershocks from the earthquake can still be felt to this day,
02:41 with magnitudes of five waking inhabitants up during the night.
02:44 Although these ones were minor, there is still the chance
02:47 that a larger aftershock than the initial earthquake will take place.
02:51 So local authorities are making every arrangement they can
02:53 to make sure that everyone is safe in that eventuality.
02:56 Until then, I've been Alfred Zanini reporting for China Daily for the Asia News Network.
03:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]