Magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes southern Taiwan

[Sylvia]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35508475

An earthquake has toppled a number of buildings in the south Taiwanese city of Tainan, killing at least two people.

Rescue teams were trying to reach people trapped in rubble after the magnitude 6.4 quake struck early on Saturday as people were sleeping.

Reports suggest at least four buildings have come down, including a high-rise residential building. More than 120 people have been rescued.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201602060006.aspx

According to the Tainan City Fire Bureau, as of 8:06 a.m., 221 people have been rescued from the damaged buildings, with 115 of them sent to the hospital for treatment. Two of those were discovered with no signs of life.

Local media reported that the two victims were a 10-day old female infant and a 40-year-old man. Having been pulled from a 17-story building that collapsed in Yongkang District in Tainan City, they reportedly died before arriving at a hospital.

ETA:

Four Continents will be held in Taipei City, the northern part of Taiwan - map: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/taiwan/

Latest updates from the AP: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1288...atest-tv-broadcasts-live-images-rescue-taiwan

 

[rosewood]

(((Taiwan)))

ETA:
I think Taipei (where 4CC is scheduled to be held) is OK. Wish every FSUer in Taiwan is safe.

 

[Buzz]

The death toll is now up to 14 but with so much destruction it would be a miraculous if more people did not die. ((((( Taiwan)))))

 

[rosewood]

#prayfortaiwan #加油台灣
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CagnzO5UcAIKeOF.jpg

The 72 hours has passed but still lots of people are in the collapsed buildings.

 

[Spareoom]

Figures, a huge earthquake in Taiwan and it was when I was out of the country. I woke up in Seoul to my phone blowing up with notifications of all my friends in Taiwan marking themselves safe on FB. Definitely a weird feeling. I feel very lucky that everyone I know is safe and weren't in Tainan. Some of my friends had travel delays due to the trains being a bit jacked up due to safety precautions but that's it. Glad to see so much outpouring of support and love.

 

[rosewood]

I was thinking about you @Spareoom. (I thought you were in Taiwan.) I'm relieved to hear you & your friends are safe.

ETA:
Are there anything that we can do for people of Taiwan? During 3.11 disaster they supported Japan so much. So it's us to help them this time.

 

[Spareoom]

I know locals have been donating blood (which has been a huge help) but beyond that I haven't heard of anything. But also remember that I don't have a local news source so I don't know what's being said on the media.

 

[tamms]

The latest update is that the developers of the building are being questioned by the district court.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35530722

It was one of the few buildings to suffer serious damage, prompting an investigation into how it was built.

Questions have been raised about tin cans which were spotted being used as filler in some of the concrete pillar, although some construction experts have said that may not have caused any structural problems.

This feels like a repeat of the Sichuan earthquake where many buildings were built with cheap materials. It's unforgivable.

@rosewood I don't know if this is an option for you but the Red Cross in Japan are accepting donations right now. Here is the page for it: http://www.jrc.or.jp/contribution/160208_004089.html Yahoo Taiwan also posted an article and referenced Yahoo Japan's page for donations as well: http://donation.yahoo.co.jp/detail/1630020/

 

[Spareoom]

Ugh @ the thing about tin cans. Unfortunately that does not surprise me at all. I adore so many things about Taiwan and the culture here, but one thing that has become increasingly obvious to me is the tendency to put "band-aids" on problems and just defer taking the time, money and effort to actually fix something until a much later date (when it is hopefully someone else's problem). I mean, the building that I live in has a minor issue with the roof that presents itself in damaged drywall on the walls beneath it, but their immediate solution is to just keep painting over the cracked drywall. It's not a major problem, but it's something that is going to have to be dealt with at some point but they just keep pushing it off.

It's not really a take-charge culture here, so stuff gets pushed around and avoided until something bad happens or it becomes to obvious to ignore any longer.

 

[rosewood]

Thanks @tamms for the tips. I donated through the Red Cross yesterday. Shame lots of people died in the ill built buildings. I'm not familiar with any Taiwan sites on net but I'll try to be vocal about　buildings to be adequately built to suit earthquake resistance standards based on the earthquakes Taiwan has had in the past if any chance.

 

[tamms]

Ugh @ the thing about tin cans. Unfortunately that does not surprise me at all. I adore so many things about Taiwan and the culture here, but one thing that has become increasingly obvious to me is the tendency to put "band-aids" on problems and just defer taking the time, money and effort to actually fix something until a much later date (when it is hopefully someone else's problem). I mean, the building that I live in has a minor issue with the roof that presents itself in damaged drywall on the walls beneath it, but their immediate solution is to just keep painting over the cracked drywall. It's not a major problem, but it's something that is going to have to be dealt with at some point but they just keep pushing it off.

It's not really a take-charge culture here, so stuff gets pushed around and avoided until something bad happens or it becomes to obvious to ignore any longer.

Unfortunately this "band-aid" that the developers put on this particular building didn't last very long and it took away 90+ lives.

I think in one of the Yahoo TW reports that I read, one survivor pointed out that the landlord actually tore down some supporting pillars to open up three units and rent it out as one. It's just really sad how low some people are willing to go for money that they can't even take with them to their graves.