Voice of America
Date: February 09, 2018
By: Ralph Jennings
HUALIEN CITY, TAIWAN — Most survivors of Tuesday night’s strong earthquake in
Rescuers work on a search operation at an apartment building that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, Feb. 7, 2018. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck late Tuesday night caused several buildings to cave in and tilt dangerously.
Taiwan escaped because they were on high floors that did not collapse, allowing rescue workers to find them.
As of Friday morning, 830 people had left the four collapsed or damaged buildings in the Pacific coast city of Hualien. Many broke windows or climbed out via balconies to escape the two worst-hit buildings, a 10-story hotel and a 12-story commercial-residential complex. Firefighters waited below with ladders.
The quake killed 10 people, including hotel guests and workers who were on lower levels of the buildings when the quake struck at 11:50 p.m. Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau recorded the quake as a magnitude 6 at its epicenter off the coast, and in Hualien it was felt with an intensity of 7, enough to cause widespread damage.
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