HUALIEN, Taiwan: Rescuers combed through the rubble of collapsed buildings on Wednesday, in a search for 67 people missing after a strong earthquake which killed at least Seven near Taiwan?s popular tourist city of Hualien.
The magnitude 6.4 quake, which hit near the coastal city just before midnight (1600 GMT) on Tuesday, injured 260 people and caused four buildings to collapse, officials said.
Hualien Mayor Fu Kun-chi said the number of people missing was now close to 60, although an exact figure was not provided. As many as 150 were initially feared missing.
Many of the missing were believed to be still trapped inside buildings, some of which tilted precariously, after the quake struck about 22km (14 miles) northeast of Hualien on Taiwan?s east coast.At the city?s Marshal Hotel, rescuers trying to free two trapped Taiwanese pulled one out alive, but the other person was declared dead, the government said. Mainland Chinese, Czech, Japanese, Singaporean and South Korean nationals were among the injured. "This is the worst earthquake in the history of Hualien, or at least over the past 40 years that I?ve been alive," said volunteer Yang Hsi Hua.
02-08-2018, 04:21 PM
Seven killed, 260 injured in Taiwan quake
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