Many residents of Chiayi spent another day outdoors, as powerful aftershocks continued to rumble just one day after an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale knocked over several buildings and injured more than 200 people.
Hundreds of people set up a tent village in Chiayi's baseball stadium, and some people even wore helmets to a local temple festival for fear of further quakes.
Reports say some 40,000 Chiayi residents camped out overnight on Friday, with most remaining outside their homes last night again.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Due to a shortage of tents, however, many people ended up sleeping on the ground. Some even wore helmets and shoes while sleeping.
More than 230 aftershocks -- including 17 between 4.0 and 6.0 on the Richter scale -- were detected in the 24 hours after Friday's quake, and seismologists said they could continue for up to a month.
Rescue officials said 254 people were injured Friday, scaling down initial reports that more than 300 required medical treatment. They said the higher figure came from some casualties being reported more than once. No deaths have been reported as a result of the earthquake.
Officials said 15 houses collapsed or were damaged, while other reports claimed more than seven residential buildings collapsed and 49 houses were seriously damaged.
Reports said as many as 100 more schools in central and southern Taiwan were also damaged, 58 in the Chiayi County area alone.
By yesterday, telephone service in Chiayi had been restored and power was restored to more than 90,000 affected households.
Premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) said yesterday that the emergency decree invoked for relief and reconstruction following September's devastating earthquake would be applied to the Chiayi area.
Injured people would be able to receive compensation from the government and owners of damaged houses would be eligible for subsidies, tax breaks and low-interest loans for rebuilding, Siew said.
The epicenter of Friday's earthquake was 2.5km northwest of Chiayi, the seismology center said. It originated 12.1km underground.
It was also felt in Hong Kong, several hundred kilometers away.
"The quake was possibly caused by the movement of the Meishan fault line going through Chiayi," said Kao Kai-wen, the director of the government's disaster center.
"Very few quakes with magnitudes over 6.0 have hit the Chiayi area, and this tremor could help release energy accumulated over the past 30 years and reduce fears of an even more powerful earthquake," Kao said.
One of Taiwan's worst quakes, the 7.1-magnitude Meishan quake in 1906 that killed 1,258 people, was centered in Chiayi county.
Last July, Chiayi was hit by a strong quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale which left five people dead and 26 injured.
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