The worst destruction was not in the city but in the mountains. Taroko National Park, Taiwan's most famous natural landmark, bore the brunt of the earthquake's fury. Massive rockfalls buried sections of the Dekalun Trail, Xiaozhuilu Trail, and Shakadang Trail, catching hikers who had set out in the early morning. Ten of the 19 people killed died this way, including five members of the same family. Landslides obstructed Provincial Highway No. 8, the Central Cross-Island Highway that threads through the gorge, trapping 600 people inside the park. Fifty employees of the Silk's Place Hotel Taroko, traveling in four minibuses, were trapped in a tunnel when rocks sealed both ends. Sixty more people were caught in the Jinwen Tunnel along the Suhua Highway. Others found themselves marooned in rock quarries or inside caves when entrances collapsed. The marble walls of Taroko Gorge, sculpted over 70 million years by the Liwu River, proved as dangerous as they are beautiful.

In Hualien City, the nine-story Uranus building collapsed, trapping residents inside. Two houses and a restaurant also came down. Across Taiwan, the Central Emergency Operation Center documented at least 2,498 cases of damage: 1,140 in Taipei alone, 497 in New Taipei City, and 366 in Hualien County. At least 111 structures were destroyed outright, while nearly 2,000 houses and 870 buildings sustained damage. Twelve buildings were deemed so unsafe that authorities ordered their immediate demolition. Over 200 residents near the epicenter were displaced from their homes. The earthquake was felt across much of the island, reaching intensity 5- in Taipei and intensity 4 or higher across all but the southernmost counties. Shaking was also felt in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and on the Japanese island of Yonaguni, where it registered Shindo 4. Japan issued its first tsunami warning for Okinawa since the 2011 Tohoku disaster, and a wave was observed at Yonaguni within 15 minutes.

The initial shock was only the beginning. At least 1,400 aftershocks followed the mainshock, three of them above magnitude 6.0. A 6.4 event struck less than three hours after the main quake, followed by additional 5.6 and 5.3 events within the hour. On April 22, a 5.8 aftershock was followed the same evening by two magnitude 6.1 events south of Hualien City. On April 26, another 5.7 aftershock hit near Taroko National Park. By November 2024, Hualien City was still experiencing aftershocks. One woman died during an aftershock in Hualien City after she returned to her damaged building to retrieve her cat; a falling column pinned her. The five cats trapped inside the building, including hers, were later found alive and rescued. A couple carrying dual Australian and Singaporean nationality remained missing; in December 2024, a Hualien court issued death certificates for both. Remains of one were found in January 2025.

The earthquake scarred Taroko Gorge profoundly. Landslides altered the landscape of the canyon, burying trails and obstructing the highway that is the gorge's lifeline. Subsequent flooding later in 2024 compounded the damage. As of 2025, much of the park remains closed -- an unprecedented situation for one of Taiwan's most visited natural attractions and a potential World Heritage Site. The 2024 earthquake was the strongest to hit Taiwan since the 1999 Jiji earthquake, which killed 2,415 people and triggered a nationwide reckoning with building standards. The parallels between the two events are striking: both exposed the vulnerability of Taiwan's mountain infrastructure, both revealed gaps in emergency response systems, and both reminded the island's 23 million residents that they live atop one of the most seismically active convergence zones on Earth. Taiwan's tectonic plates do not rest. Neither can its vigilance.