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5 dead after magnitude-6.4 earthquake shocks Taiwan



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160205192610 01 taiwan earthquake hp video 5 dead after magnitude-6.4 earthquake shocks Taiwan

Story highlights

One 17-story apartment building collapsed; two bodies found in the rubble

At least 150 people in southern city of Tainan taken to hospitals



CNN
 — 

At least 18 people were killed and more than 500 were injured Saturday morning when a magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit Taiwan, the official Central News Agency reported.

More than 350 people were rescued from damaged structures, many from a 16-story residential building that collapsed in Tainan, officials told CNN. At least 16 of the dead were from the Weiguan Jinlong building, CNA said.

CNA reported earlier that a 10-day-old girl and a 40-year-old man had been killed in Tainan.

More than 60 people in Tainan remain hospitalized, disaster officials said.

A man who was staying in a three-story apartment building in Tainan told Chinese state media CCTV the building was shaking violently when the quake hit before sunrise. His room tilted.

The man said the 45-degree tilt resulted in items inside his room spilling all over the floor. Unable to use the stairs, he managed to escape from the window of the second floor.

One woman told CNN affiliate EBC that rescuers had to cut a hole in order to help her family get out.

“Fortunately we were stuck under a space created by a baby crib and a closet door, so that things won’t fall on us and air was able to get in,” she said from the hospital, where she was being treated for a leg injury. “I was so afraid.”

The country’s interior minister and other officials said they would conduct an investigation into the building’s collapse, according to CNA.

More than 1,500 people are involved in rescue efforts, the disaster center said. Seven other buildings were damaged.

Taiwan’s outgoing President, Ma Ying-jeou, is on his way to the city, EBC and other Taiwanese media reported.

About 1.9 million people live in Tainan, Taiwan’s oldest city.

As of 5:30 a.m. (4:30 p.m. ET Friday), 121,672 homes and businesses were without power in Tainan

The tremor was centered about 48 kilometers (30 miles) east-southeast of Tainan, the U.S. Geological Survey said.





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