Taiwan earthquake rescuers face threat of landslides, rockfalls; death toll at 12

Workers set up a table with offerings for a ceremony in honour of the people who died at the site of a damaged building, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan April 5, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

HUALIEN, Taiwan (Reuters) -Rescuers in Taiwan faced the threat of further landslides and rockfalls in Friday's search for a dozen people still missing from this week's earthquake, as the death toll rose to 12 while some of those 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.