6.5-magnitude earthquake hits Taiwan, thee people killed

Taipei, Feb 6: At least three people were reported killed and toppled several buildings on Saturday when a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit Tainan city in southern Taiwan.

According to the city’s emergency response centre, a total of 127 were rescued from a toppled 17-story residential building in Tainan’s Yongkang district, with 29 of those being hospitalised, Taiwan News reported.

Authorities have estimated there are at least eight collapsed buildings with four others tilted, 42 people hospitalised, and 32 still trapped. Emergency workers are still working on various sites in Tainan.

Taiwan’s weather and earthquake monitoring agency, the earthquake with a depth of 16.7 kilometers, was centered about 27 km northeast of Pingtung county seat.

The quake was shallow, meaning its effects would have been amplified, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

There were also reports of power outages. The quake was also felt in the capital Taipei 300 km away and there have since been several aftershocks. A 7.6 magnitude quake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.  (IANS)