Yang Chengchen/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
- Taiwanese authorities said they airlifted 928 pounds of food to people stuck at a quarry.
- Sixty-four people were reported trapped at Heping Mine after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Hualien county.
- So far, nine people have died, and another 193 were injured in Hualien due to the quake.
Rescue authorities in Taiwan said they airlifted about 928 pounds of food to a mining area where dozens got trapped in a 7.2-magnitude earthquake.
The self-governed island's National Airborne Service also deployed drones to survey the Heping Mine region, where 64 people got stuck, officials from the Emergency Operations Center said on Thursday morning.
It's still unclear how these people got trapped, or if the mine is underground.
Six other people were reported to be trapped at a separate, open-air quarry called Zhonghe, but officials said they were rescued via helicopter on Thursday morning.
In an update on Thursday afternoon, local time, the National Fire Agency said that all 64 people at Heping were rescued, per CNN.
An updated tally of those trapped also no longer included those at the mine.
But more than 600 people were newly reported to be stranded at a hotel in Tianxiang, a village in the tourist hot spot Taroko Gorge, authorities said.
Nine people died, and another 193 were injured in the eastern county of Hualien, which was near the epicenter of a massive earthquake that struck Taiwan on Wednesday.
Officials said the quake also injured more than 300 people in other areas of Taiwan.
Aside, 24 tourists are believed to be stuck in a cave but were confirmed to be alive and well, authorities said on Thursday.
And 42 people were still missing as of the Thursday update, most of whom were employees of the same local hotel taking minibusses to the Taroko National Park, per emergency officials.
Footage from the aftermath of the Wednesday earthquake showed several collapsed or severely damaged buildings, including one multi-story building tilted to nearly 45 degrees.
Several people were killed by landslides and falling rocks triggered by the quakes. Dozens more were stuck on mountain roads and tunnels that day, but authorities said they were rescued via helicopter.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC, evacuated its supply lines on Wednesday amid the tremors. But about 10 hours later, the chipmaker later said more than 70% of its tools had recovered, per Nikkei.
TSMC is the world's top producer of advanced semiconductors and a key supplier of critical computer components in the world's AI craze.
Taiwanese officials said they recorded 315 aftershocks in the 24 hours since the initial 7.2 quake, but the severity of the tremors appears to be decreasing.
The earthquake, which struck at around 8 a.m. Taipei time was measured at 7.2 on the Richter scale by Taiwanese authorities, while US estimates put the quake at a 7.4 magnitude.
April 4, 2023, 3:55 p.m. SGT: This story was updated to reflect new casualty tallies from the Taiwanese authorities.