At 7:58 AM on April 3, 2024, Taiwan time, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred 25 kilometers from Hualien on Taiwan’s east coast. Within minutes, the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, with its global headquarters in the city, immediately activated its disaster relief response at 8:22 AM. Concurrently, the Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital activated its emergency response protocol.

According to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, the earthquake struck south-south-east of Hualien, with its central epicenter at latitude 23.77° north, longitude 121.67° east, and depth of 15.5 kilometers. The scale of the quake across the impacted regions of the island of Taiwan ranged from magnitude 6.0 in Hualien County to 5.0 in Yilan County, Miaoli County, Taichung City, Changhua County, and Hsinchu County, and Category 5 levels in Taoyuan City, New Taipei City, Hsinchu County, Taoyuan City, Changhua County, and Taipei City.

In Hualien County, Tzu Chi’s emergency response is already in action, and the Foundation is collaborating with various other disaster relief efforts in affected areas. As everyone works together to help, Master Cheng Yen also calls us to pray for those impacted as they begin on the long path to full recovery after this catastrophe.