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Rageshnath, a PhD student at Taiwan’s National Dong Hwa University (NDHU), was in his college’s Physics lab when the earthquake, most intense since 1999, shook the country. Recalling the moments of horror, Rageshnath said that he felt “like it was my last day”.
While talking to Hindustan Times (HT), he said that the building of his department “was shaking like a boat”. “Everything in the lab was collapsed. I couldn’t see or do anything,” he said.
The earthquake, which had around 300 aftershocks, had the most impact on Hualien, where Rageshnath’s NDHU is located. He recalled that all the research work of the students got destroyed in the earthquake.
“We lost almost everything,” he said.
Another Indian-origin resident of Taipei, Nirzari Gupta, said that even though the physical damage of the earthquake was low, the experience was “very scary”. She said that her parents were extremely worried about her after they came to know about the earthquake.
The 7.4 magnitude earthquake, which hit Taiwan on Wednesday, left 10 people dead and over 1,000 injured. For many, it brought back the memories of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in 1999 which killed over 2,400 people.
An export firm owner in Taipei, Girish Hiranandani, was quoted in the report as saying that today, the infrastructure in the country has improved. So, the damage to life was not as severe as it was in 1999.
The Taiwanese authorities have reiterated that the rescue operations are underway in the country to rescue those who are missing.
According to Anup Meena, communications affairs head at the India Taipei Association’s (ITA), there are around 4,000 Indians in Taiwan and another 1,500 Indian-origin students. Just after the earthquake, ITA issued circulars to the Indians with advisory and the helpline numbers.
Moreover, two Indians had gone missing after the earthquake but according to Meena, they were found later. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also later said that the two were safe.
“We have been now able to get in touch with the two Indians. They are safe,” said MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
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Published: 04 Apr 2024, 08:02 PM IST
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