Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake in Taiwan Kills Dozen, 40 Still Missing

Taiwan Earthquake
Taiwan Earthquake (photo: Weather.com/ Screenshot)
By Faith MagbanuaFebruary 7th, 2018

A magnitude-6.4 earthquake has struck 21 km (13 miles) north-northeast of Hualien, Taiwan on Tuesday night, February 7, 2018.

Reports claimed that the earthquake has damaged buildings and roads in Hualien. Images from the internet has shown the city's Marshal Hotel toppled over and people were reportedly trapped inside.

According to Focus Taiwan, the military is conducting search and rescue missions to rescue survivors. Six people have been killed and over 250 injured. Over 80 people are yet unaccounted for.

In addition to that, a residential building leans on a collapsed first floor following another earthquake, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, in Hualien, southern Taiwan.

The force of the tremor buckled roads, cut electricity and disrupted water supplies to thousands of households, the fire agency said.

The quake happened at around 11:50 p.m. on a Tuesday local time (10:50 a.m. EST).

Some light shaking was reported as far as Tainan, located on Taiwan's southwestern coast.

The U.S. State Department urged citizens to monitor local media for updates on the developing situation.

Earlier, officials said seven were dead, but they revised that figure Wednesday evening.

Another video circulating on the internet on Wednesday shows a view from the site of the quake while smoke rising from collapsed buildings as firefighters patrolled streets covered in rubble.

Emergency workers used enormous beams, raised with a crane, to prop up the Yun Men Tsui Ti building, a large residential and commercial complex, which leaned ominously over the street below.

In addition to that, 67 people are still missing in the city, 13 are believed to be inside a B&B called the Beauty Inn in the Yun Men Tsui Ti building, according to the Tourism Bureau. An additional 39 residents registered in the building have not been reached, although it's unclear if they were in the building when the quake struck.

It's one of four buildings in the city that were either tilting or had collapsed, authorities said.

At the flattened Marshal Hotel in downtown Hualien, rescuers reached two workers who had been trapped near the main counter in the lobby, Taiwan's official news agency, CNA, reported Wednesday.

One appeared dazed as rescue workers escorted him out. The other didn't survive.

 

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