One 17 story apartment building collapsed; two bodies found in the rubble and many trapped after earthquake jolts Taiwan
TAINAN (Taiwan) – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southern Taiwan on Saturday before sunrise, five people were dead and at least 462 people were hurt. Toppling multiples buildings in Tainan City, including a 17 story residential apartment building with possibly hundreds of people trapped inside. Police and emergency workers were fighting to rescue people from the building.
The baby and three of the other dead were from an apartment complex where the floors of a tower block pancaked down onto to each other when the tremor hit at around 4 a.m.
A man who was staying in a three-story apartment building in Tainan told the building was shaking violently when the quake hit before sunrise. His room tilted.
“I was watching TV and after a sudden burst of shaking, I heard a boom. I opened my metal door and saw the building opposite fall down,” said a 71-year-old neighbor who gave his name as Chang.
One elderly woman, wrapped in blankets, was strapped to a board and slowly slid down a ramp to the ground as the cries of those still trapped rang out. Rescuers used dogs and acoustic equipment to pick up signs of life in the rubble.
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said every effort was being taken to rescue survivors. A 1,200-bed shelter was established at a nearby military school.
The earthquake’s epicenter was located in Meinong District, Kaohsiung City, at a depth of 17 kilometers, according to the Central Weather Bureau.
Authorities said cracks had been found in a dam but there was no immediate danger. Some bullet train services were suspended to the south as track inspections were carried out, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp said in a statement.
Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage.
However, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.
