Lin Hong-ching (
Stay inside their Mazda, where they had been waiting for the light to change at the intersection of Hsinyi and Sungchih Roads, or make a break for it.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"We were struggling to decide whether or not to leave," the 29-year-old Lin said. "Bricks kept falling, so we decided to stay put."
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The couple survived, but just barely.
Yesterday's quake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, shook loose two massive construction cranes perched atop the 56th floor of what is to be a 101-story skyscraper, the Taipei Financial Center.
PHOTOS: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The cranes plummeted to the ground below, smashing into several cars -- including Lin and Chu's.
But while the couple survived with barely a scratch, the taxi cab just one car ahead of them didn't appear so lucky.
"When I saw the taxi get hit, I knew right away he was killed," Lin said.
The cab driver made it through, though he was seriously hurt. According to police reports, an officer pulled Lu Qiou-long (盧秋隆) from his crushed cab and the driver was taken to Taipei Medical University Hospital.
Lu's condition was unknown as of press time yesterday.
Five construction workers were not so fortunate. They were building what is expected to be the world's tallest skyscraper when they died yesterday. One of the workers was operating a crane when the quake struck at 2:52pm.
Lin said he saw at least one construction worker fall from the building.
That worker was believed to be Chen Jin-shuei (陳錦水), who was on the 48th or 49th floor and struck by one of the cranes as it fell.
Chen showed no signs of life when he was taken to the hospital. Doctors at Taipei Medical University were unable to save him.
Chen was one among 20 construction workers and passers-by at the site of the Taipei Financial Center that were taken to Taipei Medical University.
Government officials yesterday ordered construction on the 101-story building stopped, pending further safety checks.
Financial backers of the building said yesterday's quake didn't harm the skyscraper's structure and work would resume after safety inspections are performed.
The skyscraper is being built by the China Development Financial Holding Corp, the Koo's Group, the Linden Group, Shinkong Group and Hung Kuo Group.
Elsewhere in Taipei, a four-story apartment building on Chengte Road partially collapsed, leaning dangerously toward the street.
Seven residents were trapped and were quickly rescued. They were taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital and their injuries weren't said to be serious.
On the first floor of the building is a motor repair shop. The four-story building will be completely torn down within three days.
In Taipei County, reports said that more than 100 residents whose houses were declared too dangerous to live in after the quake were evacuated to a temporary shelter.
In all, more than 220 people nationwide reported injuries, most of them minor, according to the Cabinet.
The Central Weather Bureau said the quake's epicenter was located 44.3km east of Hualien City and 9.6km below the surface.
In Taipei the temblor registered 5 on the Richter scale. In Taichung it was 3, Chiayi 4, Taitung 3 and Tainan 2.
Most of the damage was limited to the Taipei metropolitan area. Nantou County -- which bore the brunt of the 921 earthquake in 1999, in which nearly 2,400 people died -- was spared.
Bricks falling onto the Central Cross-Island Highway hurt an 8-year old child, who was sitting in a car with his parents. The child's parents took him to the Tz'u Chi Buddhist General Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition last night.
The Su-hwa Highway connecting Suao and Hualien was closed yesterday afternoon due to falling bricks.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The city government's rescue center said the MRT resumed service at 5pm yesterday, but the Mucha line between Linkuang Station and Chungshan Junior High School Station would remain down until this morning.
In addition, the rescue center urged Taipei motorists not to illegally park on overpasses or expressways.
President Chen Shui-bian (
He instructed Premier Yu Shyi-kun to lead the rescue operations.
"I hope that everybody is safe with their family members at home," Chen said.
Yu said that everything was under control and the government would keep the public up to date on rescue efforts.
"I'm sorry for this natural disaster, which we could not avoid," Yu said. "I'm pretty glad that our rescue crews could react quickly, even though the earthquake occurred during a weekend.
"The government will continue working hard and do whatever it takes to reduce the damage of a natural disaster like this in the future."
The Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture said the quake didn't do much damage to the nation's crops, but an emergency center was on stand-by if necessary.
Admiral Li Chieh (李傑), chief of the general staff, said 230 soldiers from the military police were ready to join rescue efforts if needed.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new