Over 1000 Injured by Taiwan Earthquake

The number of people injured in a 7.2 earthquake in eastern Taiwan passed over 1,000 on Thursday, although the death toll remained stable at nine, with dozens of workers on their way to a hotel are safe.

The quake, the strongest in 25 years, struck Wednesday morning, just as people were preparing to go to work and school, based in the eastern district of Hualien, broadcast Klakosova.tv.

The buildings were also strongly shaken in the capital, Taipei, but the damage was minimal.

Taiwan's Fire Department said that the number of wounded had reached 1,058, but most of the hotel's nearly 50 employees on their way to a resort in Taroko National Park, a popular tourist destination, had been found.

Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang wrote on his Facebook page that the rescuers expected to reach them Thursday evening.

Work continues to open the road in Taroko, which is known as the interoperal highway and cross the mouth of Hualien and Taiwan's west coast.

Another 646 people are still trapped, mainly in hotels in the park because of the road break, the fire department said.

The railway line to Hualien reopened before the deadline Thursday, though a rural station in the north of the town of Hualien remains closed due to damage, the railway administration said.

In the town of Hualien, where people who were trapped in the buildings have all been rescued, some people slept out during the night after more than 300 afternoons shook the region, disturbing residents.

Outside a heavily damaged 10-story building in the centre of the town of Hualien, dozens of residents fell in line to get the items, Reuters reports.