By Our Reporter,
HUALIEN
Rescuers in Taiwan faced the threat of further landslides and rockfalls in Friday’s search for a dozen people still missing from this week’s earthquake, as the death toll rose to 12 while some of those stranded were brought to safety.
Searchers discovered two more bodies after Wednesday’s quake of magnitude 7.2 struck the sparsely populated, largely rural eastern county of Hualien, stranding hundreds in a national park as boulders barrelled down mountains, cutting off roads.
About 50 aftershocks rattled the area overnight, some felt as far away as Taipei. Rescuers said about 400 people cut off in a luxury hotel in the Taroko Gorge national park were safe, with helicopters ferrying out the injured and bringing supplies.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. More than 100 people were killed in a 2016 quake in its south, while one of magnitude 7.3 killed more than 2,000 in 1999.
Elsewhere, the weather forecasters at Colorado State University (CSU) predict five major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean.
An average hurricane season produces 14 named storms, of which seven lead to hurricanes and three become major cyclones. CSU’s forecast is in line with other initial outlooks. Last week, AccuWeather said there was a 10-15% chance of 30 or more named storms in the 2024 hurricane season, which begins on June 1 and runs to Nov. 30.
