No Belizean Injured or Displaced in Taiwan 7.4 Tremor

Taiwan suffered a seven-point-four earthquake on Wednesday morning. The tremor, which struck in Hualien County, was the most violent in the last twenty-five years to hit the island nation. Taiwan, which lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, is prone to frequent earthquakes. This most recent one has claimed at least ten lives, left more than a thousand injured, toppled buildings, and triggered landslides in the mountainous regions. Luckily, none of our Belizeans who are studying or working in Taiwan were hurt or displaced. Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francis Fonseca told News Five that immediately after the earthquake, his office contacted the Belize Embassy in Taiwan as well as Taiwan’s Embassy in Belize.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“When we heard about the earthquake, we engaged immediately with our ambassador in Taiwan, Dr Candice Pitts, as well as the Taiwanese Embassy here in Belize. I reached out personally to the ambassador here in Belize and they both provided us with updates on a regular basis. We certainly – of course, our prayers and thoughts are with the people of Taiwan. We are happy to report that none of our students were affected in any material way by the earthquake, thankfully. Of course, they were – some of them were shaken by the experience. A few of them slept through it. So we’re happy that all of our students are, doing well. Our embassy, our ambassador and her staff are doing well. They suffered in Taiwan, the country suffered some damage, structural damage, and of course any loss of life is, regrettable, but we’re happy to note that based on our reports, that their loss of life was limited to, I think, ten.”