11 killed, hundreds injured in Taiwan quake
- By Wu Jin
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 6, 2016
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Rescuers work at a quake site in Tainan, southeast China's Taiwan, Feb. 6, 2016. A 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit Kaohsiung neighboring Tainan at 3:57 local time on Saturday. [Photo/Xinhua] |
The 6.7-magnitude earthquake in southern Taiwan today has trapped numerous people beneath the collapsed buildings, with eleven confirmed dead and hundreds injured.
According to the local seismological center, the epicenter was monitored to be at Meinung, Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, with a depth extending to 17 kilometers.
Four buildings have collapsed in Tainan City area during the quake, The Guardian quoted Lin Kuang-cheng, a spokesman for Taiwan's fire agency, as saying.
Rescue teams deployed from the Emergency Response Center are working at the scene to save people trapped among the debris.
Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou rushed to the Emergency Response Center at 6:00 a.m. this morning to monitor the situation and will later continue his journey to the southern part of the island, the epicenter of the natural disaster.
Apart from firefighters, about 850 soldiers have been dispatched to the disastrous scene to support the rescue work.
Taiwan's Weather Bureau Director-General Shin Tzay-chyn said the earthquake was the result of jolts of the splintered stratum, which will probably lead to several aftershocks in the following one or two months.
However, Shin reassured the public that the aftershocks will be less intense and devastating due to the fact that the fracture of the underground layers is not very long. According to forecasts, these aftershocks will not surpass a magnitude of 6.
Several high-speed railway trains in Taiwan have been cancelled for security reasons and travelers planning to visit southern Taiwan have been advised to suspend their trips or use other transport means.
By 8:00 a.m., 221 people had been evacuated from the collapsed 17-storey Wei Guan building in Yongkang District of Tainan, said Chen Wei-zen, head of the island's interior affairs authority, at a press conference.
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