Taiwan earthquake: British man tells how he hid under desk as nation experiences strongest earthquake in 25 years

The earthquake measured 7.2 on the Richter scale

Taiwan's president-elect and current Vice-President Lai Ching-te survey damage in Hualien, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan's east. At least seven people were killed and more than 700 injured on April 3 by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted.

A British man living in Taiwan has told how he took shelter under his desk as the nation experienced its strongest earthquake in 25 years.

Rob Williamson, a teacher who has lived in Taiwan for 13 years, told The Scotsman the quake was the worst he had ever experienced during his time in the country.

The earthquake rocked the island during the morning rush hour, damaging buildings and major roads and leaving seven people dead.

Rob Williamson lives in Taiwan with his wife Xenia Wu and their son, Charlie.

In the capital, Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings as the earthquake shook the city, and schools evacuated their students to sports fields, equipping them with yellow safety helmets. Some children covered themselves with textbooks to guard against falling objects as aftershocks continued.

"I was at work in my office on the fifth floor at the time,” said Mr Williamson, who lives in the capital, Taipei. “It was shaking a lot and I hid under my desk. The school that I work at suffered no damage, but lots of local buildings had bits fall off them.

"At home, the TV fell over and things fell off the shelves. There have been several aftershocks during the day.”

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He said his son’s school was closed for the day as staff checked for damage to the building.

The earthquake, which Taiwan said it had registered at a magnitude of 7.2, struck about 11 miles south-southwest of Hualien and was about 21 miles deep.

Mr Williamson said the government would usually issue mobile phone alerts if an earthquake was due to hit, but that did not happen.

The Taiwanese authorities said they had expected a relatively mild quake of magnitude of four and accordingly did not send out alerts.

In Hualien County, near the offshore epicentre, a five-storey building was left leaning at a 45-degree angle, with its first floor collapsed.

"Earthquakes are very regular here, but you get used to it,” added Mr Williamson. “Every few weeks, there will be one that is a bit bigger. This was easily the strongest I’ve felt in 13 years here.

"All schools have drills every semester, it’s pretty normal to have small earthquakes, but this one was a lot bigger than usual.”

Multiple aftershocks followed, and the USGS said one of the subsequent quakes was a magnitude of 6.5 and seven miles deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more surface damage. The earthquake triggered a tsunami warning that was later lifted.

Traffic along the east coast was at a virtual standstill after the earthquake, with landslides and falling debris hitting tunnels and roads in the mountainous region.

Train services were suspended across the island of 23 million people, as was subway service in the capital, Taipei, where a newly constructed above-ground line partially separated.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a tsunami wave of 30cm was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the quake struck. Smaller waves were measured on the islands of Ishigaki and Miyako.

The earthquake was felt in Shanghai and several provinces along China’s south-eastern coast, according to Chinese media. China and Taiwan are about 100 miles apart. China issued no tsunami warnings for the Chinese mainland and all such alerts in the region had been lifted by Wednesday afternoon.