Reports of Damage Emerging From Fuli Township 花蓮富里也是重災區 多處村落仍停水

Hualien's Fuli Township has also reported damage from the Sept. 18 earthquake. Several villages that are home to many elderly people are currently without running water, and large cracks have appeared in roads. Many homes were also damaged.

Many people living near Fuli Station ran out of their homes when an earthquake struck on Sept. 18. The extent of the damage caused by the quake and aftershocks is now emerging. Dongli Village, which is home to many elderly people, sustained severe damage. The village currently has no running water, and many people's homes were destroyed.

Dongli Village Resident: “We're still without water now, it hasn't resumed. This is water from a well. Everything inside fell down, and bowls and plates broke. Everyone is in the same situation. Not a single household was spared.”

Many elderly residents are afraid of returning to their homes. The situation is compounded by a lack of supplies. A village inhabited by the Cirakesay tribe is also without water. The surfaces of asphalt roads have also bulged and cracked. Concrete and rocks also fell down from walls.

Village Resident: “There have been many aftershocks. It's so frightening. Look at the road surface, it's completely cracked and we were all terrified.”

Over in Luoshan Village, long cracks appeared in many roads. Local residents paid for an excavator and operator to come and level out the roads to make them usable again. When the earthquake struck, a huge amount of muddy water erupted out of Luoshan Mud Volcano.

Lin I-cheng, Director-General, Luoshan Community Association: “It's usually very smooth and continuous, like this. All the mud here is what came out that day.”

Some residents say they've lived here for half a century, and this was the most powerful earthquake they've ever experienced. They're still traumatized. The most common type of damage sustained by the village was the toppling of water towers, so many villagers are without water.

富里車站旁的中山路，地震瞬間天搖地動，民眾趕快拔腿跑出家門，連續強震後，花蓮富里鄉災情逐一出現，受災嚴重的東里村，村內多住老人，除了現在全村停水之外，有些人的家裡，甚至被震得跟廢墟一樣。

富里鄉東里村民說道：「停到現在都還沒接起來，這是古井的水，裡面所有的東西都倒，碗盤都破了，每一戶都這樣，沒一戶沒倒的，每一戶都壞光光。」

許多老人家根本不敢回到自己住的屋子，缺水外也缺物資，而同樣斷水的還有基拉歌賽部落，村落的柏油路面斷裂隆起，多處圍牆的水泥石塊也都傾倒，波及到一旁的住家。

花蓮富里鄉基拉歌賽部落受災戶指出：「一直都有餘震，太恐怖了，那個路面也這樣，整個都顛簸浮起來了，我們都嚇到。」

鏡頭轉到羅山村的產業道路，許多路面都出現了超長裂痕，當地民眾乾脆自掏腰包，花錢找怪手來整平，讓車輛得以順利通行，而村子裡的羅山泥火山在強震當時，也噴發了大量混濁的泥水。

羅山社區協會理事長林益誠表示：「原本它就是很順的，就這樣小小的，一直有水出來這樣子，但是瞬間一下，這些泥都是當天出的，這個瞬間冒起來的。」

有居民說在當地住了50多年，頭一次遇到這麼大的地震，回想起來仍舊心有餘悸，而羅山村居民遇到最多的狀況是家戶的水塔傾倒，無水可用，許多村落目前仍待各單位加緊腳步，投入救援和重建。