Yushan hikers hit by falling rocks following east Taiwan quake | Taiwan News | 2022-12-15

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that shook the entirety of north Taiwan at noon on Thursday (Dec. 15), reports surfaced about a group of hikers hit by falling rocks near Yushan’s Main Peak.

Liberty Times reported that the earthquake’s intensity level registered as 4 on Yushan. The intensity level skill gauges the degree to which a quake is felt at a specific location and ranges from 1, mild shaking, to 7, violent shaking.

The local fire department was cited as saying that it received the report about the rockfall-related injuries very soon after the earthquake, which made it believe the two events may be connected. Of the group of six hikers, five suffered injuries, though all were able to walk down the trail.

The injuries ranged from a suspected bone fracture in the forearm to a laceration on the head. Others suffered light cuts and abrasions.

According to an ETtoday report, the group had been around 500 meters from the main peak when the rockfall occurred. Emergency services dispatched a team of 11 to help escort the hikers down from the trail back to Paiyun Lodge.

The Yushan National Park Headquarters confirmed that the rockfall occurred after the earthquake. It urged those planning to hike in the area to beware of rockfalls, as they may happen after earthquakes at locations where the terrain and geology is unstable.

Per an earlier report, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit eastern Taiwan at 12:03 p.m. on Thursday and was felt by the entire country.

Rescuers escort one of the hikers (first on left), who may have sustained a bone fracture in the arm, down the mountain trail. (CNA photo)