Taiwan cautions against visiting mountain areas following massive quake --- TAIWAN NEWS ---Matthew Strong

Scenic areas from Hualien to Penghu have been closed TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Holiday makers should stay away from mountainous areas and find information about which national parks and scenic areas had been closed down following a massive earthquake, the Tourism Administration said Wednesday (April 3). At least nine people died, more than 900 were injured, and dozens are still missing or prevented from going home due to roads made impassable by rockfalls and landslides. The magnitude 7.2 earthquake off the coast of Hualien County Wednesday morning was Taiwan’s largest quake in 25 years. The disaster occurred on the last working day before the April 4-7 Tomb Sweeping Holiday. Hualien County, traditionally one of Taiwan’s most popular travel destinations, is virtually cut off from the rest of the country, with a limited resumption of rail travel expected by Thursday (April 4) noon. The Tourism Administration said it had preventively closed six scenic areas in different parts of the country, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. The list included the popular Taroko Gorge in Hualien County and Guishan Island in neighboring Yilan County, where whale-watching boat trips were also canceled. Hiking paths around Liyu Lake in Hualien County have also been closed, as falling rocks had been reported from several places in the area. Officials also shut off paths in the Tri-mountain Scenic Area in Central Taiwan, the Shihba Luohan Shan Forest Reserve in Kaohsiung City’s Maolin area, and the Whale Cave in Penghu County. The Tourism Administration advised travelers to stay away from mountainous areas in general. More than 170 aftershocks were registered during Wednesday, posing a high risk of further landslides and rockfalls. Several hotels in Hualien County closed their doors because of traffic problems or damage to buildings. Dozens of travelers were also still stuck in hotels or on roads, unable to continue their journey because of blocked roads.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Russia captures town after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance --- Reuters

Russian forces now control 98.5% of Luhansk, 60% of Donetsk MOSCOW: Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022. The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it. Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment". The Russian defense ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report. Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolor flag over shattered buildings. The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday
Read more