Vo Than had just woken up and prepared his things to go out in Taipei when he realized the glass door was cracked and everyone was running out of the hotel, on the morning of April 3.
Vo Than, who was traveling to Taipei – 180 km from the Hualien epicenter, said he felt slight tremors that gradually increased in intensity on the morning of April 3. The tempered glass door in the bathroom on the third floor of the hotel had many cracks but was not completely broken. After that, he and everyone ran out of the hotel through the emergency exit.
“I told the hotel to change rooms to ensure safety but have not been given a specific solution,” he said.
The glass door of the hotel in Taipei appeared with light cracks 3/4. Image: Martial God
A 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Hualien district, northeastern Taiwan island on the morning of April 3, causing Japan and the Philippines to issue a tsunami warning, which was later removed.
According to Taiwan Seismology Center director Wu Chien-fu, this is the strongest earthquake on the island in the past 25 years, after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that killed 2,400 people in 1999. “Earthquake occurred near the mainland and the epicenter was shallow. The tremors were felt throughout Taiwan and offshore islands,” Mr. Wu said.
Ms. Minh Thuy, who lives in Ho Chi Minh City and went to Taiwan to travel since the beginning of the week, said she was staying at a relative’s house in Gia Nghia city, about 278 km from the earthquake epicenter. Ms. Thuy said the tremors had appeared since the afternoon of April 2. The place where Ms. Thuy lives is quite far from the Hualien area, but she still felt strong shaking this morning. According to the warning on Ms. Thuy’s phone, the Hoa Lien area had a 7.5-degree tremor. Gia Nghia city recorded an aftershock of 4.3 degrees.
Ms. Thuy said people living in Taiwan are used to earthquakes, so they handle situations quickly. Currently, Ms. Thuy temporarily cancels all travel plans to Hoa Lien until the situation is safe again.
Vo Than also noticed that after the tremors, people in Taipei quickly returned to normal life, switching to taking buses because high-speed trains stopped running and subways were constantly late. I also continued my trip to Keelung, bordering Taipei.
Mr. Phan Tan Phat, who has lived in Taiwan for 12 years and runs a local tour company based in Hsinchu city, about 300 km from the epicenter, said he felt strong shaking while driving to work and stopped. wait for the red light. At first, he thought the car was broken, but when he saw the traffic lights shaking, he realized an earthquake was coming.
Two hours after the earthquake, the Hsinchu area was still shaking strongly. Currently, all high-speed and slow train lines on the island have stopped, road vehicles are not circulating because “the Hualien area has a collapsed underground tunnel”, Mr. Phat said. Taiwan turned on safety alerts across the entire island, including small islands.
According to Mr. Phat, it is currently the peak tourist season in Taiwan, customers booking tours at his company mainly come to see cherry blossoms. The company continues to monitor the situation. If there are no aftershocks today, tomorrow we can travel normally. The company has a policy for guests to cancel tours for free. In bad cases, guests can stay to rest or find a safe place to stay before further notice.
A building in Hualien tilted after the earthquake on the morning of April 3. Image: Reuters
As noted by VnExpress, Vietnamese travel companies are monitoring the situation to come up with plans to handle groups about to depart for Taiwan. Mr. Pham Anh Vu – Marketing Director of Viet Tourism Media Joint Stock Company – said the company has a delegation that will return to Vietnam from Taipei on the morning of April 3 and is currently safe.
Taiwanese landtour partners informed the company that popular destinations with Vietnamese tourists such as Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung are relatively safe, and the government has not made any move to recommend stopping tourism. Meanwhile, the epicenter of Hualien is not a popular destination for Vietnamese travel companies because the road is inconvenient and only serves a few guests with special needs.
The company will have a delegation depart for Taipei on April 4 and is waiting for notification from the Taiwanese government to decide on a plan. In the event that no warning is given, the group departs normally.
Mr. Hoang Minh, owner of a travel company in Hanoi, said there will be four Taiwan tour groups by April 13, the latest group departing on April 6. Currently, the unit has not received notice of flight cancellation from Eva Air so it is expected to depart normally.
Mr. Minh proposed two scenarios: Taiwan warns, if the airline cancels the flight, the company will cancel the tour or change the departure date; Taiwan warned, but the airline did not cancel the flight, the group departed normally, and passengers who did not go would lose money. However, Mr. Minh does not expect the following scenario to happen because tourists will travel in a nervous state of mind. Currently, the company plans to negotiate with the airline to reschedule the flight.