A strong aftershock shook Taiwan yesterday, killing three, injuring 58 and causing several buildings already weakened by Tuesday's kil-ler quake to collapse.
The death toll rose to 2,060, with 8,672 injured, 189 missing and 961 stranded in remote areas.
The tremor, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, rattled Taiwan at about 8 am yesterday. The epicenter of the quake was located at some 10km east of scenic Sun Moon Lake, 7.5km underground.
In Nantou County's Ming-chien (
The building crushed the Minchien Township Farmers' Association building across the road and at least two passing vehicles and several passersby.
One of two employees working overtime at the farmers' association yesterday managed to escape; another could not be found.
The building had been declared dangerous after Tuesday's quake and the road section in front of the building had been cordoned off by police. But traffic resumed on the road Saturday afternoon after someone removed warning signs.
Witnesses said at least 10 residents of the building were in it when it collapsed, retrieving some of their belongings.
Rescue teams from South Korea, Mexico, Turkey, the UK, Spain, Russia and the US all rushed to site of the collapsed building to help out with rescue efforts.
The quake also caused a landslide in Yunlin County's Kukeng (
More buildings in Nantou County also collapsed after yesterday's quake. Most of those buildings, including several schools and a Buddhist monastery, are believed to be located along fault lines which have been active since last Tuesday.
A number of roads in Nantou County and other neighboring counties, already affected by Tuesday's deadly quake, were blocked by landslides after yesterday's aftershock.
Chen Chiu-hciung (
The tremor also interrupted Taipower's supply of electricity in central Taiwan, leaving some 1.5 million households in Taichung City, Taichung County, Nantou County and Changhua County without power for at least six hours.
In Taipei, the city government's Bureau of Public Works received reports of cracks seen on the Chunghsiao Bridge (
Seismologists said threatening aftershocks are still expected in the following days, as neither the magnitude nor frequency of aftershocks has been found to be subsiding.
Nantou County Commissioner Peng Pai-shien (
He also warned that the number of safe wide open spaces available to the homeless has been rapidly shrinking as the number of homeless continues to increase.
Meanwhile, President Lee Teng-hui's tour of disaster areas yesterday was marred by the death of a six-year-old girl in Puli.
The girl was crushed when one of four helicopters in the presi-dent's entourage landed at Puli Junior High School and blew over a pineapple tree.
The felled tree also seriously injured another girl.
President Lee expressed regret and extended his apologies to the parents of the girls.
Meanwhile, the international community showered Taiwan with concern.
Pope John Paul yesterday sent his prayers to "the people of earthquake-stricken Taiwan" and called on the international community to provide help and solidarity.
"In these days my thoughts have constantly turned to the beloved people of Taiwan as they recover from the recent earthquake and its tragic aftermath," the Pontiff said in his regular Angelus speech from his summer residence outside Rome.
"I am likewise confident that the international community will respond with renewed solidarity and ready assistance in the urgent work of relief and rebuilding."
San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said he would ask the city council to contribute US$200,000 to help victims of this week's earthquake in Taiwan.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)