Hundreds of others were pulled from the rubble in the worst-hit Tainan city, with 475 taken to hospital.
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Firefighters and soldiers scrambled to the site of two collapsed residential high-rises with ladders, cranes and other equipment and extracted 221 people from the rubble.
Authorities in Tainan said that of the 14 people killed in the quake, 11 were found at the ruins of the fallen building. At least 484 people were hurt, Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center said.
They were also not sure exactly how many people were still trapped under the debris, fearing there may be more people in the building than usual as families may have housed guests to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday next week.
Taiwan EBC TV station is broadcasting live images of firefighters pulling out stunned and dazzled survivors from a collapsed high-rise in the south of the island following a 6.4-magnitude quake. According to the U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Paul Caruso, the epicenter of the quake was on the island, said L.A. Times.
Some 200 were pulled from the building that had been home to about 80 families, but as of 9 p.m. local time Saturday, there were still 156 missing from the building, according to the government’s forward command post in Tainan that deals with rescue work.
Chang, a 71-year-old who lives next door to the building, told Reuters that he heard a “boom” and opened his door “and saw the building opposite fall down”.
More than 160 people have been rescued from the wreckage, the Associated Press reported. Overall, at least 400 people are injured and several are in comas, while fractured limbs are the most common injuries sustained by victims.
A third woman died after being hit by a falling water tank with no details immediately available of the other two deaths, the fire agency said.
It’s one of the country’s biggest holidays, and some people have as many as nine days off, Hu said.
A city official said 16 buildings in Tainan were collapsed or seriously damaged.
More than 1,500 volunteers are working to help victims of the quake, and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has promised a nationwide “all-out effort” to locate and rescue additional victims.
Men in camouflage uniforms, apparently military personnel, marched into one area of collapse carrying large shovels.
Taiwan’s interior minister, Chen Wei-zen, has pledged an investigation to examine whether the developer cut corners during construction.
Liu Shih-chung, city government deputy secretary general, said television footage of the ruins of the commercial-residential building suggested the possibility of structural problems related to poor-quality reinforced steel and cement. But Taipei was quiet, with no sense of emergency or obvious damage just before dawn.
News further reported over 150 residents remained missing as of Saturday night.
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In September 1999, Taiwan was hit by a magnitude-7.3 natural disaster, which left more than 2400 people dead.
