Chicago area residents safe, but shaken after being caught in Taiwan earthquake
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Roads cut off by landslides have complicated rescue efforts in Taiwan, after a powerful magnitude-7.4 earthquake.
The earthquake hit during the height of rush hour Wednesday – rattling buildings and nerves, and sending people scrambling for safety. At least nine people were confirmed dead as of Wednesday night Chicago time, and dozens more were missing – possibly trapped in collapsed buildings and highway tunnels.
The impact of the earthquake was felt inside newsrooms, homes, and businesses – and even packed subway cars. The eastern city of Hualien was hit the hardest.
Charlotte Thompson, a Deerfield native, was caught up in the middle of it all.
"I was sound asleep, and woke up to the entire room rocking like a boat," said Thompson, "and it was like a speedboat. Not just a cruise ship, but a speedboat rocking."
Thompson arrived in Taipei only hours before the earthquake hit. The shockwaves were so intense that she felt them even inside her hotel room.
"Other people started coming into the hallway, and I was yelling, 'Stay in the doorway!' as the building was shaking," said Thompson, "because we're up on the 13th floor - so very high up - and was rocking profusely."
What Thompson and many others in Taiwan was left wondering was why they didn't receive a heads-up – especially in a country accustomed to, and well-prepared for, earthquakes.
"Nothing - radio silence here in Taiwan - and people have been talking about that," she said. "I'm like, why did nothing go off? Why was there not some sort of alarm?"
Thompson was safe after the earthquake, as well as another group from Chicago traveling in Taiwan. St. Ignatius College Prep on the Near West Side reported its students and teachers traveling in Taiwan were all safe, and no one was injured.
Chinese and social studies teacher Fr. Aaron Bohr, S.J., and Chinese teacher Dr. Miriam Leung, said major highways were closed due to the earthquake damage – so they were headed to the western part of Taiwan on safer roads, St. Ignatius said.
Late Tuesday, efforts were under way to rescue hundreds trapped in mines – as the roads to get them were damaged due to landslides.
The earthquake this week is the strongest one to hit Taiwan in over two decades. Late Tuesday, there was no telling how much damage it caused.