Taiwan earthquake has killed 9 people and injured more than 1,000; 38 hotel employees are missing

Here are five developments from the Taiwan earthquake:

• Rescue workers rushed to Hualien to search for people who might be trapped and used excavators to stabilize damaged buildings. The number of people missing, trapped or stranded fluctuated as authorities learned more people were in trouble and worked to find or rescue them.

• Reuters quoted Taiwan’s fire agency as saying that about 70 workers trapped in two quarries were safe. However, the road leading to them was damaged by falling rocks. Six workers will be flown out today.

• The fire department said rescue efforts were focusing on people trapped on the cross-island highway, which cuts through a gorge that connects Hualien to Taiwan’s west coast and is a popular tourist destination. Authorities are using drones and helicopters to search for people in the canyon and airdropping supplies to them once they are found.

• Taiwan’s fire department said a helicopter rescued six people trapped in the mining area on Thursday morning local time. Meanwhile, the rail line to Hualien also reopened on Thursday, but a rural station north of Hualien City remained closed due to damage, the railway bureau said.

• According to statistics from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), since 1980, approximately 2,000 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or above have occurred in Taiwan and its surrounding waters, including more than 100 earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 or above. The island nation’s worst earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, struck on September 21, 1999, killing 2,400 people, injuring about 100,000 and destroying thousands of buildings.