Rescue teams in Taiwan continued to look for missing people Friday following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit eastern Hualien county on Wednesday.
The quake killed 10 people, injured more than 1,000 and left hundreds of people stranded after boulders blocked roads.
Around 200 people near the quake’s epicenter are staying in shelters, with the main road to Taipei still closed.
The fire department said 18 people are still missing, according to the Reuters news agency.
Rescue workers are still trying to reach hundreds of people trapped in tunnels that run through Hualien county’s mountains.
The Taiwan government has set aside the equivalent of US$9.37 million to aid the recovery, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. CNA said the money will be used to provide subsidies for Hualien residents and cover quake-related expenses.
Business is getting back to normal with chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing restarting 70% of its production lines as of Thursday morning.
But Taiwan continues to be rocked by aftershocks, with 365 reported as of Thursday afternoon. Two aftershocks on Wednesday measured 6.5 and 6.2, CNA reported.
China offered its condolences for the quake and offered to provide assistance, although Taiwan turned it down.
Some Chinese netizens even suggested that the People’s Liberation Army should “land on the island to provide disaster relief.” The comments were subsequently deleted from the Weibo microblogging site.
Edited by Elaine Chan.
