A powerful earthquake has rocked the island of Taiwan, with officials reporting nine people dead and 934 injured, with 70 workers trapped in quarries as of Wednesday morning, during rush hour. The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years struck Wednesday morning local time as people were commuting to work. Damage has been reported across the island. The most impacted region is Hualien County, which is about 150 kilometers from Taipei, the capital. .Footage shows tall buildings leaning at sharp angles and flattened infrastructure, thick smoke billowing on the horizon, and emergency and rescue crews going into crushed basements to save people. .Japanese officials clocked the earthquake at 7.2 magnitude, but the US documented it as 7.4. Authorities initially issued a warning of potential tsunamis in Taiwan and Japan as an aftermath of the quake, which has since been revoked..While earthquakes are frequent occurrences in Taiwan, rarely is the country struck by one of such magnitude.Since 1980, Taiwan has been hit by about 2,000 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4 or greater, according to the United States Geological Survey. Of those, more than 100 of those surpassed a 5.5 magnitude.
