Strong earthquake in Taiwan, the port was damaged to stop operations
According to the official determination of the China Earthquake Network: a 7.3 magnitude earthquake occurred at 7:58 pm on 3 April in the waters of Hualien County, Taiwan (latitude 23.81 degrees north, longitude 121.74 degrees east) at a depth of 12 km, and since then there have been a number of aftershocks ranging from 4-6 magnitude, and there have been a steady stream of aftershocks. This is the strongest earthquake that has occurred in Taiwan since the 921 earthquake in 1999, and tremors were felt in all of Taiwan, many places along the mainland coast, and Okinawa, Japan.
Hualien County, the nearest county to the epicentre of the quake, was the most affected and classes have been suspended. As can be seen from pictures circulating on the Internet, tilting and collapsing of buildings and landslides have occurred in Hualien County. Among the major commercial ports in Taiwan, the Hualien Port (located at 23.59 degrees north latitude and 121.37 degrees east longitude) has suffered damage such as cracking and sinking of the ground at its wharf, and is apparently unable to operate normally. Currently, Hualien Harbor is experiencing a major ebb tide, and the Hualien Visitor Centre, which is closer to the port, is closed.
Taiwan Port Corporation pointed out that the port have been set up at 8:00 a.m. emergency response team, Hualien Port has a number of wharf damage, there is also a rupture of the oil pipeline, the current port area to stop loading and unloading operations, as for other ports there is no major disaster at present. Hualien Harbor Pier 25 'Calypso' cable breakage, the bow of the ship slightly scraped the west embankment, the stern of the ship slightly scraped the east embankment, the emergency out of the port to the anchorage to anchor; outside the port of Pier 22-25 serious bulging, Pier 23, the back line of the pier protruding and sinking; Pier 18, there is oil and gas is suspected to be rupture of the oil pipeline; Pier 20, Pier 21, under the transport racks Pier rupture; West embankment road breakage.
Regarding the disaster situation in Hualien port, the current situation is as follows: (1) stop loading and unloading operations in the port area; (2) control the entry and exit of people and vehicles into and out of the port, and evacuate vehicles from the port; (3) close the bridges in the port; and (4) ships will only go out of the port and not enter the port. As for other ports, there is no major disaster yet.
Taiwan is surrounded by the sea, Hualien Port is one of the major commercial ports in Taiwan, positioned as the eastern region of the port of entry and exit of goods and sightseeing and recreational port, is the only international commercial port in the eastern part of Taiwan, only 2 hours from the Pacific Ocean main shipping lanes, operated by the Hualien Branch of the Taiwan Port Services Co.
Hualien Port has 25 berths, including 5 cruise passenger berths, and is the third largest cruise port in Taiwan, mainly engaged in bulk and general cargo and passenger cruise business, with a water depth of 6.5-10.5m in the inner harbour and 12-16.5m in the outer harbour, the maximum berths for 100,000-tonne bulk carriers and 170,000-tonne cruise ships, and a 3-year average bulk and general cargo throughput of 9,110,000 metered tonnes in the years of 2021-2023, and the handling of cargoes in the form of The cargo handling is mainly for cement, sand and gravel, wood chips, ore and coal.
In 2023, Hualien Port will have a cumulative total of 2,120 inbound and outbound vessels, 16,435 inbound and outbound cruise passengers, and 8,827,600 billable tonnes of cargo handling. Hualien Port welcomes the resumption of cruise ships after the epidemic in 2023, and the number of cruise ships forecast to arrive at the port this year has increased to 13 voyages, with an estimated 31,200 passengers.
According to the Taiwan Port Stack Service Network, as of 10:37 a.m. today, among the ships in port at Hualien Harbor, there were 8 ships at terminals in operation and 18 ships at terminals not in operation, 3 ships have entered port today and 1 ship is ready to enter port, and all the ships currently in port are bulk cargo ships.
China's Ministry of Natural Resources issued a tsunami level I alert (red), said that according to preliminary parameters, the earthquake may trigger local tsunamis around the source of the earthquake, which is expected to have a catastrophic impact on China's Taipei East, Pingdong East, Pingdong East, Taidong East, Taidong East, Taidong East, Hualien and Yilan coastal local areas, in addition to Japan, the Philippines and other countries have also issued tsunami warnings, the Japan Meteorological Agency for the Miyako Island, Okinawa Honto Island, etc. issued a A tsunami warning was issued for Miyako Island and the main island of Okinawa, with waves expected to be three metres high. As a result, the earthquake may affect other ports in Taiwan as well as ships navigating in the relevant waters.
Ports are vulnerable to extreme weather and natural disasters such as extreme waves, cyclones and earthquakes. After an earthquake, apart from the need to clean up and replace damaged port equipment, if the breakwater and shore foundation suffer serious damage, the reconstruction time will take at least several months, and the phenomenon of stasis in the harbour brought about by the tsunami will also seriously affect the safety of navigation channels.
Japan's 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, the port of Kobe was hit hard, although the rapid reconstruction, but the earthquake accelerated the loss of the port of Kobe international container hub port status. In February this year, after the earthquake in Turkey's Hatay province, a large number of containers at the port of Iskenderun toppled over and a fire broke out, causing the port to shut down and suffer serious damage. Port Circle will continue the impact of this earthquake on the port of Hualien and other ports port.