Colombian who witnessed an earthquake in Taiwan: “I thought I would never see my mother again”

At least nine people died, 821 were injured127 remain trapped or stranded and 28 buildings collapsed after the strong earthquake recorded this Wednesday in Taiwanwhich has already left more than a hundred replicas of different magnitudes, official sources reported.

The earthquake, whose magnitude was 7.2 according to the Central Meteorological Agency (CWA) of Taiwan and 7.4 according to the United States Geological Survey, it occurred at 7:58 on Wednesday (23:58 GMT on Tuesday) in the sea, specifically 25 kilometers southeast of the eastern county of Hualien .

This area has been the most affected by the earthquake, both in loss of human life and material damage, since numerous buildings and infrastructure have been damaged and at least two housing blocks were partially collapsed.

Noticias Caracol Now spoke with Inder Ramírez, a Colombian who lives in Taiwan and who narrated the moments of anguish he experienced due to the earthquake.

“I’m still very anxious, I spent a night where I couldn’t sleep. In the 7 years I have been here I have never felt such a strong earthquake. When the earthquake occurred, I was at a health center asking for some medicine,” said the Colombian citizen.

Inder Ramírez shared an aspect that he found disturbing and that is that, when these types of phenomena occur, they usually notify citizens on their cell phone, but on this occasion the alert never came. “They caught us with our pants down”, he noted.

Likewise, he added that “everyone took to the streets. The cars all stopped at the same time. It looked as if time had stopped for a few minutes. It looked like a horror movie. “I was very nervous and I can’t imagine dying so far away yet, I wanted to see my mother and it broke my heart to think that I would never see her again,” he concluded.