Powerful aftershocks continued to shake Taiwan yesterday following Tuesday's deadly earthquake, delaying rescue work as emergency teams continued to dig through piles of twisted metal and concrete left by collapsed buildings, searching for survivors.
Rescue efforts were centered on the two worst-affected areas of Tai-chung and Nantou Counties near the quake's epicenter, but also continued in Taipei.
The Central Weather Bureau recorded a strong aftershock at 8:14am, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale and centered in the mountains near Chichi, Nantou County, approximately 200km south of Taipei. It was followed by a less powerful temblor half an hour later, measuring 6.1. Another with a strength of 6.0 struck early yesterday evening.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, LIBERTY TIMES
The aftershocks, which were felt throughout the island, collapsed more buildings, triggered rock and mud- slides, and partially damaged the Sun Moon Lake Reservoir near the epicenter. Residents in areas adjacent to the reservoir were urged to evacuate their homes. Reports said dam managers were releasing water from the reservoir as a precaution.
Seismologists also warned there could be more aftershocks in the days to come, cautioning the public to be prepared.
Altogether there have been more than 2,000 aftershocks following the main quake early Tuesday morning which had a strength of 7.6.
PHOTO: SHING TING-WEI, LIBERTY TIMES
As of press time the Disaster Management Center said 2,034 people were confirmed dead. Another 6,536 were injured and 2,308 were trapped, while 208 were still listed as missing.
The day's rescue efforts had yielded just nine people pulled alive from the wreckage compared with more than 300 dead. The chances of many more victims being found alive looked slim.
Workers who had already cleared blocked roads in some mountainous regions found themselves having to repeat their efforts as the aftershocks shook loose fresh mud and other debris.
In Taichung County's Fengyuan a sniffer dog's whimper was regarded as a hopeful sign that someone was still alive under the rubble of a toppled 12-story building.
But hope was fading fast as the number of bodies surpassed the number of those still alive.
"I don't think there will be any more survivors," said one neighbor who only gave her name as Liu. "This morning they already found three people. All were dead," she said, watching a chain of soldiers wearing surgical masks clear debris from the pile of concrete, tile and splintered wood.
The aftershocks made people in the disaster-stricken areas all the more anxious to get to safety.
Panicking survivors in Puli, Nantou County, close to the epicenter of the quake, tried to leap into helicopters as they picked up the wounded or dropped off medical and food supplies.
One pilot said he had to fight off a small crowd who dangerously overloaded his aircraft when he landed at a high school.
"There is only space for 10 people," he said. "I wish I could carry out everyone. I feel like crying. However loud the helicopter is, I can still hear the people howling at me."
Another pilot described how a fist-fight had broken out between two families at Puli as he explained he could not take them all.
"We had to split the family up and leave the ones who weren't injured," he said.
As rescue efforts went into their second day, around 500 personnel from 14 nations, many armed with experience from the recent disaster in Turkey, were in Taiwan to aid the rescue efforts.
Rescue teams from the US, Japan, Singapore, Russia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Austria have all arrived on the island, some teams accompanied by sniffer dogs. Mean-while Spain, Britain, Israel, South Korea, and Thailand have contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to offer rescue teams.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has sent a seven-member evaluation team to Taiwan to coordinate rescue work carried out by foreign rescue teams. The OCHA decided to send the humanitarian assistance after consultations with China, which did not pose any objection.
OCHA may only provide assistance if it is requested to do so by a sovereign government. Since the UN recognizes Beijing as the sovereign government of Taiwan as part of its "one China" policy, in theory providing assistance depended on it being asked to do so by Beijing.
It remains uncertain whether Beijing made such a request or OCHA suggested it provide aid and then sought Beijing's approval. A spokesman for Taiwan's foreign ministry, however, said yesterday that Taiwan had certainly not asked OCHA for UN assistance.
The ministry was prepared, however, to let the UN team enter Taiwan because it felt that disaster relief took precedence over political disputes.
Later, Liu Teh-hsun (
Liu was responding to a statement by a spokesperson for Beijing's foreign ministry that Beijing thanks the international community for their sympathy and aid to Taiwan. Such remarks implied that Beijing controlled Taiwan and could speak for its people.
Meanwhile, condolences from world leaders continued yesterday, with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cretien and Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama expressing shock and sadness at the disaster.
In a letter to President Lee Teng-hui (
Finance Minister Paul Chiu (
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS