Heroic dog alerts owner of deadly Taiwan earthquake, video viral | Watch

Moments before the 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on Wednesday, a dog successfully managed to alert its owners of the destruction that followed. The dog can be seen sprinting inside the owner’s bedroom and then running back outside as the house started to shake due to the strong tremors. The viral video then shows the dog fending for itself and finding shelter on a couch.

The video of the heroic dog has garnered more than 60,000 views on social media platform X. Netizens soon started praising the pet while some were left impressed with their ability to sense such disasters.

The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century rocked Taiwan during the morning rush hour Wednesday, killing nine people, stranding dozens of workers at quarries and sending some residents scrambling out the windows of damaged buildings.

The quake, which also injured more than 1,000, was centred off the coast of rural, mountainous Hualien County, where some buildings leaned at severe angles, their ground floors crushed.

Just over 150 kilometres away in the capital of Taipei, tiles fell from older buildings, and schools evacuated their students to sports fields, equipping them with yellow safety helmets. Some children covered themselves with textbooks to guard against falling objects as aftershocks continued.

The quake and aftershocks also caused 24 landslides and damage to roads, bridges and tunnels. The national legislature, a converted school built before World War II, and sections of the main airport in Taoyuan, just south of Taipei, also saw minor damage.

Taiwan's earthquake monitoring agency said the quake was 7.2 magnitude while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.4. It struck about 18 kilometres off of Hualien, on Taiwan's east coast, and was about 35 kilometres deep. Multiple aftershocks followed.

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(With PTI inputs)