Three dead in Taiwan quake after buildings toppled
Three people including a 10-month-old baby died after a 16-storey residential tower block collapsed in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan following a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Saturday (Feb 6).
06 Feb 2016TAIPEI: Three people including a 10-month-old baby died after a 16-storey residential tower block collapsed in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan following a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Saturday (Feb 6).
"These three people showed no signs of life before they were sent to the hospital, said Lin Kuan-cheng, spokesman for the National Fire Agency, as rescuers battled to free residents still trapped inside.
Rescuers mounted hydraulic ladders and a crane to scour the wreckage and pluck more than 120 survivors to safety, with at least 26 taken to hospital, a fire brigade official said.
"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 neighbour who gave his name as Chang.
A plumber, he said he fetched some tools and a ladder and prised some window bars open to rescue a woman crying for help.
"She asked me to go back and rescue her husband, child, but I was afraid of a gas explosion so I didn't go in. At the time there were more people calling for help, but my ladder wasn't long enough so there was no way to save them."
At least five aftershocks of 3.8-magnitude or more shook Tainan about half an hour after the initial quake, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.
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.
"There are 60 households in that building," said Tainan fire department information officer Lee Po Min, estimating that there might be about 240 people living there. One city hospital said 58 people had been brought in, most of them with light injuries.
SEVERAL BUILDINGS DAMAGEDA building is damaged from an earthquake in Tainan. (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, speaking to reporters in the capital before leaving for the disaster scene, said authorities were not clear on the extent of the disaster. "The disaster situation is not very clear yet. We will do our utmost to rescue and secure (survivors)," Ma said.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.4 quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.7, was centred 27 miles (43km) southeast of Tainan, a city of nearly 2 million people.
The quake was very shallow, at depth of 6.2 miles (10km), which would have amplified its effects, the USGS said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was not expected.
Taiwan's Formosa TV said its reporters could hear the cries of people trapped inside the collapsed apartment tower as firefighters, police and troops swarmed the area.
Firefighters hosed down part of the building to prevent a fire while others used ladders and a crane to enter upper floors. The building appeared to have collapsed onto the first story where a child's clothes fluttered on a laundry line.
Some bullet train services were suspended to the south of Taiwan as inspections were carried out on the tracks for damage, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp said in a statement.
"Collapsed buildings reported in Tainan, with rescue workers arriving on scene. The city government there has set up a level one emergency response center. Onlookers are urged not to block access to emergency crews moving into the area," Taiwan's China Post newspaper said on its Web site.
Liu Shih-chung, an official with the Tainan city government, said the city had set up an emergency response centre.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes.Rescue personnel work at a damaged building after an earthquake. (Photo: REUTERS/Pichi Chuang)
A strong 6.3-magnitude quake which hit central Taiwan in June 2013 killed four people and caused widespread landslides.
A 7.6-magnitude quake struck the island in September 1999 and killed around 2,400 people.
- AFP/Reuters/ec
