‘Felt like this was my last day’: Indians in Taiwan on strongest quake in past 25 years

The two Indians reported to have gone missing on Wednesday, after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan, were found shortly after midnight, India Taipei Association (ITA) official said on Thursday.

“The Indians were found. They were outside in the Tarako National Park and were riding in a car. Since the road got blocked due to the quake, they couldn’t travel. However, in the evening they reached the hotel around midnight,” he said.

The earthquake, Taiwan’s worst in the past 25 years, on Wednesday, killed 10 people, injured about 1,067 individuals and trapped over 600 others.

Fire broke out at Hualien University

Indian-origin PhD student Rageshnath studying in Taiwan’s Hualien, which was one of the most affected areas in Wednesday’s quake, said that he felt like it was his last day and he feels like he got his life back.

A student of the Physics department of the National Dong Hwa University (NDHU), Rageshnath was in his college’s physics lab when the earthquake hit the country. “So, it happened in the morning. I went to the lab and was doing some work and the quake began between 7.55am and 8am.”

While Taiwan is used to earthquakes, the 7.2 magnitude quake left severe damage in several cities including Hualien, the country’s capital Taipei and nearby areas.

Rageshnath said that he felt like usual when the earthquake hit first. However, he only realised the severity of the situation when the building began shaking rigorously. Speaking to Hindustan Times, he said, “I got out of the lab and saw no one outside since the students usually arrive around 8.30am. The building was shaking like a boat. Since the lab is on the 4th floor, it was worse in height. I felt like it was my last day.”

He added that due to a short circuit and possible spillage of chemicals, a fire broke out. “After the earthquake, I went inside the lab and there was a short circuit. I am not sure if it was because of the short circuit or chemicals but a fire started. I went up again to the lab and another earthquake came. I got really panicked and tried to extinguish the fire with 7-8 cylinders, but it kept raging. Everything in the lab was collapsed. I couldn't see or do anything. By this time, a few people came, but nothing happened.”

While the fire department arrived in an hour, Rageshnath said that another fire broke out in the university’s Chemistry department. “Even the firefighters couldn't do anything. I think the whole chemistry department has gone away.”

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Hualien, the worst hit by the earthquake, saw about 300 aftershocks. As per Rageshnath, there are less than 100 Indians in Hualien.

Rageshnath said that the students were extremely worried since all the data and research work was destroyed in the lab. “We lost almost everything.”

Like Rageshnath, several Indians were shocked to experience the intensity of the quake.

Damages occurred

Stanislaus Irudayaselvam, a Catholic priest in Taiwan and a professor at the FuJen Catholic University, said that while he has experienced several quakes in the past 13 years in the country, this one was longer and stronger. It lasted for over a minute, he said.

Irudayaselvam, who is currently in Hualien, said that the city was completely cut off from the capital Taipei. “Hope the trains will start running tomorrow. The land route may take a few days. A bridge of 20 meters has fallen. It’s really terrible as I’m typing I feel another aftershock. It has been shaking from this morning, has been about 10 hours now, all aftershocks. We had hundreds of them. A house about half a KM from here also fell this morning [Wednesday].”

He said that the epicentre of the quake was Chongde, about 20 km from Hualien.

For several, the tremors on Wednesday brought back memories of the 1999 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which killed over 2,400 people and damaged around 5,000 buildings.

Girish Hiranandani, an export firm owner and a restauranteur in Taipei, said that the last such quake was the ‘Jiji earthquake’. He said, “Fortunately, today the damage to the residences and the properties, as well as the infrastructure was not as devastating as the one we had in past. The major inconveniences that people in general had to go through were the sudden halt of the train and metro services.”

The India Taipei Association issued a circular across the Indian diaspora with helpline numbers and advisory. The circular read, “In view of the earthquake striking off the coast of eastern Taiwan during the early hours of Wednesday, 03 April 2024, the following emergency helpline has been set up by India Taipei Association for assistance, guidance, or clarification to all Indian nationals living in Taiwan: Mobile: 0905247906 Email: ad.ita@mea.gov.in. All Indian nationals are further requested to follow advisories issued by the local authorities. ITA also request Indian nationals in Taiwan to share this advisory through their local networks for wider circulations.”

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Speaking about the Indian diaspora being adversely affected, ITA said it only knew of one or two people who sustained minor injuries on their hands and faces.

Talking about the severity of the earthquake, he added, “If the earthquake went on for over 8-10 mins continuously, things here would begin to collapse. Houses were shaking and everything was falling down. Taiwanese people are extremely used to these earthquakes but the quake was so strong that the infrastructure was affected even though buildings here are built earthquake-proof. If the same intensity would happen in India, everything would collapse. In our country, illegal floor constructions do take place, but they are extremely strict in Taiwan in that sense. They have proper protocols to follow since the country is extremely prone to earthquakes.”

Irudayaselvam also said that while the buildings were made to withstand quakes, several houses fell in Hualien alone due to the high magnitude of the quake.

Hiranandani said, “Also, there are areas where there have been landslides, which have disrupted the traffic and the connection to the other major cities from Hualien. Power outages and Internet services have also been disrupted.”

Living in Thailand for about 30 years now, Hiranandani said that he saw a vast difference in infrastructure damage and loss of lives from the 1999 quake. He said, “Today it is nothing even close to that. We did not see much damage and none of the services have been disrupted for beyond a few hours in Taipei. Of course in Hualien, the rescue work is in progress and I think they have a lot more to do as some of the people are still trapped in establishments which have collapsed but I’m sure the government is doing their best.”

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Dr. Susan Zachariah, who works at Yung Hsin Contain Industry, said she was riding a scooter when the quake occurred. “Even though we have had earthquake experiences before I felt it much more strongly this time, I saw buildings shaking this time got a bit scared and stopped my scooter aside in an open area. I have been living since 2016 here. So normally we take this casually but this time we all got afraid and the shake was not just once today, it continued. So everyone came out of offices and buildings, normally we don’t care about shakes.”

Response from authorities

As per the ITA, about 4,000 Indians are working in Taiwan and the country hosts about 1,500 students. Several Indians said that the ITA contacted them within hours of the earthquake occurring. Members of the Malyali association in Taiwan also contacted Rageshnath.

The authorities were quick in their response and evacuation process, said Irudayaselvam. “If it had happened in any other countries, it would have had hundreds of casualties.”

An Indian-origin Taipei resident Nirzari Gupta said, “Taiwan authorities quickly released advisories, people in most of the cities got an emergency earthquake alert from Taiwan government a few seconds before the main quake started and another alert for tsunami as well. I also saw many public servants performing damage assessments of public areas and metro stations throughout the day.”

Mental impact

Gupta said that while the damage was low, the experience left a mental impact. “The experience was very scary and left a mental impact on some of us. We also experienced aftershocks for the entire day.”

She added, “My parents were extremely worried when I informed them about it. And after videos started coming up on News channels, other relatives also started reaching out about my well-being.”

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