SHOCKING dashcam footage shows the moment a car was crushed by a massive boulder after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan.
The terrifying clip shows the road in Hualien Province shaking as large rocks begin to fall down the mountain during the tremor.
Cars can be seen waiting on the road at the epicentre of the quake in Hualian
Suddenly a massive rock was seen crushing a car
People were urged to stay away from the mountains as the quake cause landslides
More rocks can be seen falling down the mountain
Cars on the road can be seen quickly reversing as the quake becomes visibly stronger.
But one of them is suddenly struck by an enormous boulder sending it flying against the wall.
Massive rocks continue to fall down the hill in an apocalyptic scene as panicked drivers are fleeing for their lives.
Authorities have urged people to keep away from the mountains because of the risk of falling rocks and the formation of “barrier lakes” as water pools behind unstable debris.
Wednesday’s earthquake was the country’s strongest in 25 years left at least ten people dead and 821 injured.
Harrowing pictures show the devastating aftermath of the quake with damaged buildings and debris strewn across roads.
AFPThe earthquake caused serious damage to buildings[/caption]
AFPA can was destroyed by rocks falling in Taiwan[/caption]
APFirefighters evacuated a body from the Taroko National Park[/caption]
Dramatic footage showed items flying from shelves in a home office while a TV reporter was seen trying to keep her balance as the earthquake struck.
A man was seen being thrown about by waves in a swimming pool as water poured from the sides of apartment blocks.
The city’s mayor Hsu Chen-wei said 48 residential buildings were damaged in the quake.
Following the earthquake, Taiwan was hit by over 300 aftershocks causing landslides and damaged roads, bridges and tunnels.
Rescuers are still battling to save the 700 who are either missing or stranded in remote areas- including 600 who were stranded inside a hotel called Silks Place Taroko.
Most of them are trapped in hotels in the park after the road was cut off, the fire department said, as the discovery of a dead body on a hiking trail near the entrance to a gorge took the total deaths to ten.
Nearly 1,070 people were injured in the quake.
Six people who were stranded in a mining area were rescued by a helicopter today.
Hendri Sutrisno, a 30-year-old professor at Hualien Dong Hwa University, spent Wednesday night in a tent with his wife and baby.
He said: “We ran out of the apartment and waited for four to five hours before we went up again to grab some important stuff such as our wallet.
The world’s biggest earthquakes
Valdivia, Chile – May 22, 1960 – 9.5
Alaska, USA – March, 27, 1964 -9.2
Sumatra – December, 26, 2004 – 9.1 to 9.3
Tohoku – March, 11, 2011 – 9.1
Kamchatka, Russia – November, 5, 1952 – 9.0
Chile – February, 27, 2010 – 8.8
Rat Island – February, 3, 1965 – 8.7
Assam-Tibet – August 15, 1950 – 8.6
Aleutian Islands – April, 1, 1946 8.6
Indian Ocean – April, 11 2012 – 8.6
While 5-year-old Yu who slept in a tent on a sports ground added: “The aftershocks were terrifying.
“It’s non-stop. I do not dare to sleep in the house.”
Huang Shiao-en was in her apartment when the quake struck.
She said: “At first the building was swinging side to side, and then it shook up and down.”
Hualien was last struck by a deadly quake in 2018 which killed 17 people and brought down a historic hotel.
But Taiwans worst recent earthquake struck on September 21 1999, a magnitude 7.7 temblor that caused 2,400 deaths, injured around 100,000 and destroyed thousands of buildings.
AFPIt was Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years[/caption]
AFPThe city of Hualian was the worst hit by Wednesday’s quake[/caption]
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