Aftershocks Hamper Rescue Work as Taiwan Quake Toll Rises to 10

Taiwan was struck by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake just before midnight on 6 February.

Rescuers are seen entering a building that collapsed onto its side from a 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan.

(Photo: AP)

Scores of aftershocks hampered rescue efforts on Thursday, 8 February, as emergency personnel combed through collapsed buildings in search of survivors after a powerful earthquake killed at least 10 people near Taiwan's tourist city of Hualien.

The coastal city was hit on 6 February by a magnitude 6.4 quake just before midnight that injured 270 people. Four buildings collapsed, officials said, and seven people were still missing.

The country was hit by another earthquake of 5.7 magnitude on the eastern coast of the island, the government said late on 7 February.

Rescuers stepped up efforts at one of the worst-hit structures, a 12-storey building that housed apartments and a small hotel, where authorities believe most of those still missing to have been, including several foreigners.

Thick steel girders propped up the heavily leaning structure to keep it from collapsing further, with the lower floors having already caved in.

The first quake struck about 22 km (14 miles) northeast of Hualien shortly before midnight on 6 February, with its epicentre very shallow at just 1 km, the USGS said. Several aftershocks hit the area but there was no word of any tsunami warning.

The government said 214 people had been injured.

Hualien is home to about 1,00,000 people. Its streets were buckled by the force of the quake, with around 40,000 homes left without water and more than 600 without power.

President Tsai Ing-wen went to the scene of the quake early on 7 February to help direct rescue operations.

Authorities "would not give up" on disaster relief efforts, the President said during her second visit to the quake-hit area on 8 February.

Hotels, Military Hospital Damaged in the Quake

On 7 February, the president’s office had said:

The president has asked the cabinet and related ministries to immediately launch the ‘disaster mechanism’ and to work at the fastest rate on disaster relief work.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s office in a statement.

Premier William Lai had said the government was urgently repairing a major highway damaged by the quake.

Among the buildings toppled in the quake was the Marshal Hotel in Hualien. 

Four other buildings, including two hotels and a military hospital, also tilted during the quake in Hualien, which is about 120 km (75 miles) south of the capital, Taipei.

"We were still open when it happened," said Lin Ching-wen, who operates a restaurant near the military hospital. "I grabbed my wife and children and we ran out and tried to rescue people," he said.

Map of Taiwan earthquake.(Photo Courtesy: earthquake.usgs.gov)

Taiwan Prone to Earthquakes

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker and major Apple supplier, had said initial assessments indicated no impact from the earthquake in Hualien on 6 February, according to a spokeswoman.

The company's headquarters and some facilities are located in northern Hsinchu, where the shock of the 6.4 magnitude earthquake was not felt overnight, the spokeswoman said on 7 February.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake also struck nearby on 4 February. Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers part of its territory, is prone to earthquakes.

Some people in Taiwan are still scarred by a 1999 earthquake with 7.6 magnitude whose impact was felt across the island and in which more than 2,000 people died. More recently, an earthquake in 2016 in southern Taiwan left more than 100 dead.

(This story has been updated to reflect the rise in the death toll.)