President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday ordered government agencies to stay abreast of the latest developments and provide all necessary help in the wake of the 6.4-magnitude earthquake that shook the southern part of the country early yesterday.
Ma also activated an earthquake response mechanism and asked the National Fire Agency and the 8th Army Corps to obtain up-to-date first-hand information about the quake, Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said.
Ma yesterday cancelled his scheduled activities after the earthquake and went to the Central Emergency Operations Center at about noon before rushing to Tainan.
“There doesn’t appear to have been severe damage or injuries,” Ma told reporters after a briefing at the emergency operations center in Tainan County.
“However, we must check everything carefully and identify damage,” said Ma, who was widely criticized for his government’s slow response to Typhoon Morakot in August.
A joint press conference was held in Taipei following the weekly Cabinet meeting to brief the public on the government’s action plan.
Director of the Ministry of the Interior’s Social Affairs Department Tseng Chung-ming (曾中明) said the National Fire Agency had set up an emergency task force immediately after the earthquake to serve as command center disaster-response coordinator.
Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) said he told military squads stationed in quake-affected areas to begin rescue operations whenever necessary without the need to wait for orders.
Kao said that an hour after the quake, the military had deployed 103 people in Kaohsiung County’s Jiasian Township (甲仙) and 130 in Liuguei Township (六龜), while 35 were on standby at Chi-shan Hospital.
The military also dispatched helicopters to affected areas to assess damage and search for casualties, he said, adding that a S-70C helicopter was sent from Chiayi County to the epicenter in Jiasian Township at 8:43am, and a second conducted another assessment trip at 8:57am.
An RF-5E aircraft from Hualien County flew above mountainous areas in Tainan and Chiayi counties to conduct an inspection at 8:55am and another aircraft conducted a similar operation at 9:36am, he said.
The Army’s Aviation Brigade also conducted eight surveillance flights using various types of helicopters at 8:47am above Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung, Kao said, adding that an E-2T took off at 8:47 am and flew over the Central Mountain Range on a command and control and communications relay mission.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) called on local government heads in the south to submit requests for assistance from the central government.
Wu said the government would closely monitor the situation in mountainous areas to prevent disasters as heavy rainfall expected in the coming days could trigger mudslides.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN, CNA AND AP
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS