Prosecutors' offices throughout Taiwan have begun investigating construction companies' responsibility for the heavy losses suffered in Tuesday's quake that devastated parts of Nantou, Taichung and Taipei counties.
Lin Yi-hsin (林義信), owner of the construction company that built the "Doctor's Home," a 12-story building in Hsinchuang in Taipei County which collapsed in the quake, was arrested on Friday along with the building's architect, Lien Chih-chien (連志謙).
Prosecutor Chen Ming-hsiang (陳銘祥) of the Panchiao Prosecutor's Office ordered an immediate freeze on the assets and property of Lin, Lien and others related to the construction of the building.
Prosecutor's offices in Taipei are charging some involved in the construction of buildings that collapsed with negligence and public endangerment.
The Taichung Prosecutor's Office yesterday barred 13 construction company owners and architects from leaving the country, including the owner of the Cheng-hsiang Construction Company (晟翔建設), the company that constructed the Taichung Dynasty Community (台中王朝) complex and Tung-shih Dynasty Community (東勢王朝) complex. Both residential communities suffered serious damage during the earthquake.
However, by taking no action against the Hung-tsong Construction Company (宏總建設), builders of the New Life Park Community (新生活公園) complex in Taiping (太平) in Taichung County, however, the government has angered some residents.
Two of the four high-rise buildings in the New Life Park Community suffered serious damage during the quake. Eleven people in the community of 345 apartments died as a result of the disaster, as of yesterday, and an unknown number are still trapped in the rubble.
A self-help association (自救會) of residents discovered that empty salad oil bottles were used in the construction of the building's structural walls. They also found that steel reinforcing bars in the concrete were not solidly attached to each other.
The self-help association in Tali (大里) in Taichung County expressed similar concerns. As of noon yesterday, 19 were dead and 17 missing in rubble that once was the Taichung Dynasty Community complex.
Wang Chuan-yi (王傳益), head of the association, stated that buildings collapsed due to shoddy construction. Residents also expressed concern over the sluggish pace of the current investigation
While the prosecutor's office has barred the owner of the construction company from leaving the country, the owner's relatives are not subject to the same limitations. Residents fear the owner will transfer the building's ownership rights to his relatives, complicating prosecution of the case.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS