In AIPEI, Taiwan, rescue teams are preparing to utilize heavy machinery on Saturday to retrieve two bodies trapped under boulders on a hiking trail, following Taiwan’s most powerful earthquake in 25 years. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.4, struck on Wednesday morning off Taiwan's east coast, resulting in at least 12 fatalities and leaving 10 others unaccounted for.
The bodies of a man and a woman were discovered on Friday, but their identities have not yet been confirmed. Four more individuals are still missing on the Shakadang Trail in Taroko National Park, known for its rugged mountainous landscape.
Search and recovery efforts were suspended on Friday afternoon due to aftershocks but are scheduled to resume. Over 600 people, including approximately 450 at a hotel in Taroko National Park, remain stranded in various locations due to rockslides and other damage.
Survivors have recounted terrifying experiences of rocks falling onto roadways, trapping them in tunnels until rescue teams arrived. In Hualien city, a building leaning over a street at a precarious angle is being carefully dismantled.
Taiwan's relatively low casualty count from such a powerful earthquake has been credited to strict construction standards and extensive public education campaigns on the earthquake-prone island. In comparison, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in 1999 claimed the lives of 2,400 people.
Among the deceased and missing on the Shakadang Trail are a family of five. Search operations are ongoing as the community endeavors to recover from this catastrophic natural event.