Taiwan earthquake death toll rises to 13 with over 600 still trapped as rescuers face landslide threat

More than 600 people remain stranded three days after a devastating magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Taiwan, killing at least 13 in the island’s eastern county of Hualien.

Rescuers face a range of threats from landslides, rockfalls and aftershocks as they continue working to evacuate the remaining trapped individuals.

Hundreds of those stranded are in a national park in Hualien, including about 400 at a single hotel, after Wednesday’s earthquake sent boulders raining down the mountainside, cutting off roads to the remote region.

On Saturday, the death toll rose to 13 after a third victim was found on the park’s Shakadang Trail. Most of the victims were killed outdoors by falling rocks or landslides.

The earthquake was the strongest to hit the island since one in 1999 that killed 2,400 people. Survivors have described seeing tumbling rocks blocking roads and in some cases trapping people inside tunnels.

Officials said most of the stranded individuals seemed safe, as rescuers deployed helicopters, drones and smaller teams with dogs to reach them.

Four people were killed while they were hiking in Taroko Gorge and four others lost their lives while traversing the mountainous highways of the region.

About 50 hotel workers, who are now mostly safe, were stranded on a road to the national park.

“We were terrified when the earthquake first happened. We thought it was all over, all over, all over, because it was an earthquake, right?” a security manager at the hotel, who was trapped in the area, told Reuters after he was rescued, adding that boulders were still tumbling as the group left.

“We had to navigate through the gaps between the falling rocks, with the rescue team out front,” he said.

The area has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks since Wednesday, including a magnitude-5.2 earthquake earlier on Saturday.

Search and rescue operations were temporarily suspended on Friday due to the aftershocks.

Rescuers plan to bring in heavy equipment to recover two bodies pinned under boulders in the park, but efforts are hindered by the risk of landslide and anticipated rain.

“Rain increases the risks of rockfalls and landslides, which are currently the biggest challenges. These factors are unpredictable, which means we cannot confirm the number of days required for the search and rescue operations,” Su Yu-ming, the leader of a search team, said.

More than 1,100 people have been confirmed as injured by the earthquake so far, according to Taiwan’s national disaster agency.

Meanwhile, Taiwan lashed out at Bolivia for expressing solidarity with China after the quake. China, which considers the self-governed island to be a breakaway region and has threatened to take it back by force if necessary, has “thanked” the international community for expressions of concern regarding the Taiwan earthquake.

Earlier this week Bolivia said it “expresses its solidarity with the sister People’s Republic of China, in the face of the loss of life and severe material damage caused by a large earthquake that occurred in recent hours off the coast of Taiwan.”

“You shouldn’t be the evil, expansionist PRC’s pathetic puppet that jumps when Beijing says jump... Just like Taiwan, Bolivia is not part of communist China. No more, no less,” Taiwan foreign minister, Joseph Wu, posted on X.