Taiwan earthquake: Rescuers face threat of landslides and rockfalls as death toll at 12

Debris surrounds a building collapsed by a powerful earthquake the day before, in Hualien, Taiwan, April 4, 2024. Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years left the ground floors of some buildings collapsed, leaving them leaning at precarious angles. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Fabian Hamacher and Joyce Zhou

Rescuers in Taiwan faced the threat of further landslides and rockfalls in their search on Friday for a dozen people still missing from this week's earthquake, as the death toll rose to 12 and some of the stranded were brought to safety.

Searchers discovered two more bodies after Wednesday's quake of magnitude 7.2 struck the sparsely populated, largely rural eastern county of Hualien, stranding hundreds in a national park as boulders barrelled down mountains, cutting off roads.