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 (
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS