News / China

Death toll from earthquake in Taiwan reaches 39

Monday, 08 February 2016 9:38 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 08 February 2016 9:37 AM ]

Two rescue workers stand next to the remains of a building complex that collapsed in the 6.4-magnitude earthquake in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, February 8, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

The death toll from a recent earthquake in Taiwan has risen to 39, with more than 100 people still missing.

The 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan at about 4 a.m. local time on Saturday (2000 GMT Friday), caused a number of buildings to collapse and left many people trapped under the rubble.

On Monday, rescue efforts concentrated on the ruins of a 17-story building that was toppled by the quake, where 117 people are listed as missing and feared to be buried deep under the rubble.

Rescue workers on Monday pulled two survivors – a man and a woman – from the rubble of the building more than 48 hours after the quake happened.

A crane is used in the rescue operations at the site of a building complex that collapsed in an earthquake in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, February 8, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

The government said in a statement that 36 of the 39 dead were from the 17-story building, which had been constructed in 1994.

Tainan Mayor William Lai warned that the death toll was likely to exceed 100. “There are more fatalities than those pulled out, and the number of fatalities will probably exceed 100.”

Taiwan’s outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou, speaking to reporters at a Tainan hospital, said the government should do a better job in ensuring construction quality.

Taiwan lies in a seismically active area and is therefore prone to earthquakes, which mostly cause little or no damage. But one of its worst-recorded quakes measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale occurred in September 1999. The earthquake claimed 2,400 lives and ruined 50,000 buildings.

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