Dozens missing in Taiwan after earthquake topples buildings

Aftershocks rocked Taiwan's eastern coast on Thursday as rescue workers searched a teetering multi-story building for dozens of missing residents feared trapped inside more than 36 hours after a deadly earthquake.

At least nine people were killed and 267 injured when the magnitude 6.4 quake struck late Tuesday 22 kilometers (13 miles) north of the city of Hualien, authorities said. It also damaged bridges and buckled roads in and around Hualien, a city on the island's northeastern shores.

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake shook the already devastated tourist town in the early hours of Thursday, Taiwan's official news agency CNA said, the largest in a series of aftershocks.

Fifty-eight people were still unaccounted for in Hualien, many of whom were believed to have been living or temporarily staying at the now badly damaged and tilting Yun Men Tsui Ti building, officials said.

The death toll was revised down from 10 by the Hualien Fire Department after a body was counted twice by accident.

Rescuers rest near the site of damaged buildings in Hualien on February 8.

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

Rescuers were digging "nonstop on the backside of the building" to try to find people feared trapped on the lower floors, Hualien County fire commander Zhu Zhe-min said. No one is any longer believed trapped above the second floor, he said.

Forty-three people connected to the Yun Men Tsui Ti building were unaccounted for, officials said. That includes 10 people who'd been staying at a bed-and-breakfast called the Beauty Inn inside the building, and an additional 33 registered residents.

Emergency workers block off a street in Hualien, Taiwan, where a building threatens to collapse.

But because much of the building had been searched, it was likely that no more than six people -- registered in Beauty Inn rooms that rescuers had yet to reach -- were still trapped, the city's emergency operation center said.

Melinda Yu, a resident of the fifth floor on the now-listing side, said she was marking her 50th birthday in her apartment when the quake struck. The floors below her seemed to collapse, and when the dust had cleared, she said, she looked out a broken window and found she essentially was on the ground floor.

"Someone was waiting for me outside, (saying), 'Give me your hand,' and pulled me out," she said.

One of her neighbors is missing, she said early Thursday.

Residents take shelter in a local stadium after an earthquake and aftershocks on February 7.

Worker found alive in collapsed hotel

The Yun Men Tsui Ti is 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.

A car sits crushed under a building Wednesday after a 6.4 magnitude quake hit in Hualien.

Numerous aftershocks followed Tuesday and Wednesday. At least 15 aftershocks, measuring as much as 4.8 magnitude, shook the area on Wednesday afternoon and evening alone, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.

Meanwhile, 600 military personnel and more than 750 firefighters combed through rubble and helped with rescue efforts, according to Taiwan's Central Emergency Operation Center.

One of the dead was a Chinese tourist who was visiting with her son, according to CNA. She passed away Wednesday evening after suffering a head injury during the quake, the news agency reported.

Nine Japanese were injured and taken to the hospital, authorities said, but they have all been released. In total, 31 foreigners were affected, including 14 South Koreans, two Czechs, two Singaporeans and one Filipino, CNA reported.

Hualien is close to Taiwan's famous Taroko Gorge, a popular tourist destination.

Photos on state media showed the narrow highway in and out of the gorge on Wednesday morning covered in rocks, rubble and other debris from the earthquake.

Hundreds of military personnel are in Hualien to assist with the rescue effort.

Hundreds of Hualien residents whose homes were destroyed took shelter at a local stadium, with relief organizations providing emergency supplies.

Some 1,900 households lost power in the wake of Tuesday's quake, but most had it restored by Wednesday morning, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center.

However, an estimated 35,000 residents were still without water, the center said.

Pacific Ring of Fire

The quake struck late Tuesday in the East China Sea, north of Hualien, an eastern county that's home to more than 350,000 people.

The temblor was felt as far away as the capital, Taipei, about 120 kilometers (74 miles) to the north, according to reports sent to the US Geological Survey.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, center, is briefed at the site of a collapsed building Wednesday.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited the scene of the earthquake Wednesday. Tsai thanked the island's first responders in a message on her official Twitter account.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com