How to help Taiwan after 7.2 magnitude earthquake hits

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake has struck Taiwan's east coast which, at the time of writing, has led to the death of seven people with more than 700 injured.

It's the strongest earthquake Taiwan has had for 25 years and set off tsunami warnings on the island and neighbouring countries, although these have since been revoked.

The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the earthquake was around 18km south of Taiwan's Hualien city.

Pictures and videos show buildings partially collapsed, tilted and people being rescued - local media reports also say the tremors set off landslides and debris collapsed hillsides.

In an update on Facebook, Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen said she has "immediately instructed the administration to get on top of the situation and understand local impacts as soon as possible".

She said: "Central Disaster Response Centre has been set up and various ministries are reporting on the situation in various places, so please pay attention to the various information released by the officials at any time, and please check carefully for any earthquake-related news.

"In addition, there were a number of aftershocks this morning, and I would like to remind everyone not to take the lift for the time being, and to pay more attention to safety."

At times like this, it can often feel helpless as to what we can do to help victims of natural disasters such as this but there are ways of contributing to the relief effort.

While there are no specific relief funds set up at the time of writing, The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan) is part of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which a humanitarian organisation.

A link to its donation site can be found here: https://www.redcross.org.tw/english/home.jsp?serno=202211010004

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