Vietnamese in the earthquake in Taiwan

Early morning on April 5, many aftershocks continued to occur across Taiwan (China), following a strong earthquake 2 days earlier.

While chatting with us, many Vietnamese people continuously received forecast messages through the Line chat app and the Taiwan Meteorological Administration's software.

Calmly escape

Ms. Dao Bich (43 years old, residing in La Dong, Nghi Lan district) recounted that at 8 am on April 3, she felt dizzy. She thought she was exhausted from taking care of her child, until the phone rang and she learned that the Taiwanese authorities warned her to stay away from the wall.

Attached is a list of safe shelters - sturdy buildings equipped with water, food and medical equipment - within a 20 km radius of her home.

Earthquakes are common in Taiwan, so Ms. Bich was not very stressed, even though her whole family felt the strong tremors from the 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Hualien County. Yilan is located in northeastern Taiwan, not far from Hualien.

"My legs were shaking as if someone was shaking them. Two minutes later, the apartment loudspeaker announced that people were moving slowly down to the park. My 12-year-old daughter was taught evacuation skills at school, so she instructed my husband and I to hold our heads while walking," said Ms. Bich.

Ms. Nguyen Minh Tu, owner of a vermicelli and fish sauce restaurant in Taoyuan City, Taiwan (China), rearranges her shop to do business after the earthquake.

Meanwhile, Le Minh Hoai (37 years old, from Thanh Hoa) was frying noodles for a food company based in Kaohsiung City when the earthquake occurred. Although Kaohsiung is 300 km away from the epicenter, the pan still wobbled, causing all the sauce to spill. Cooking oil splashed up, causing Hoai's arm to be slightly burned.

The company quickly turned on the loudspeaker to call for evacuation and everyone calmly put on more clothes, lined up and moved to the ground, on the wall the rules board had fallen to the ground. The atmosphere was no different from the earthquake response drill that Mr. Hoai had learned and practiced not long ago.

Mr. Hoai explained further: "In Taiwan, every 6 months we attend occupational safety classes and practice evacuating during earthquakes. When we evacuated this time, we didn't think the earthquake would be so serious. Only when we read the newspaper did we learn that this was the strongest earthquake in the past 25 years."

In Taoyuan City, located in northwestern Taiwan, many shop owners in the Vietnamese food district near Taoyuan MRT Station have proactively moved tables, chairs and stoves to the sidewalk to prevent accidents. Ms. Nguyen Minh Tu (65 years old, owner of a vermicelli noodle shop here) said that the government has created conditions for traders to use the sidewalk temporarily to ensure safety when aftershocks still persist.

Humanity in adversity

Thanks to her participation in the Vietnamese Association in Xinyi District (Taipei City), Ms. Ho Thi Mai received valuable assistance when the earthquake occurred. The tremors damaged the sliding door of the nail salon she owned, trapping her inside.

After struggling for more than an hour without being able to get out, she joined the group to call for help. "I didn't expect that nearly 60 people would text me and offer to help. Finally, two Vietnamese students came to open the door and help me out. Many people were worried and even wanted to bring me food and medicine," Mai said.

A group of Vietnamese people take shelter in a safe area in Taoyuan City, Taiwan - China after the earthquake on April 3.

The quake struck as Taiwan was on a four-day holiday for Qingming Festival and Children's Day. Authorities are still advising people to rest and stay updated as there could be more dangerous aftershocks.

In just a few days, there were more than 20 support groups created by the Vietnamese community living in Taiwan on the Line app. Vo Dien, an international student in Taoyuan and head of the group "Vietnamese people helping each other during the Taiwan earthquake", was touched by the affection of fellow countrymen living abroad as everyone asked about each other and gave each other many words of encouragement.

"Many people even suggested organizing relief efforts in Hualien after the authorities finished repairing the roads," said Mr. Dien.

Transportation in the Hualien area remains cut off and more than 300,000 people are receiving food and medical care. Do Thi Bach, 42, said she and her husband were traveling to Quang Phuc Commune in Hualien County when they were stranded because the train tracks were broken.

The family is currently staying in a low-rise hotel and has endured more than 10 aftershocks that have left them swaying as if they were on a boat. Local authorities have come to help Ms. Bach and her family.

As of April 5, the death toll from the earthquake in Taiwan is 12. In addition, more than 1,000 people were injured and about 18 people are still missing.

About 400 people trapped in a hotel in Taroko Gorge Park, Hualien County are safe and helicopters are evacuating injured people and providing supplies to those waiting for rescue.

A group of 50 hotel staff who were hiking in the park were also found safe. "The biggest challenges now are rock and soil slides caused by the rain," Su Yu-ming, head of the rescue team at Taroko Gorge, told Reuters.

Hai Ngoc

Source: https://nld.com.vn/nguoi-viet-trong-dong-dat-o-dai-loan-196240405211604771.htm