The quake struck at about 4 am on Saturday at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday, with nearly all the dead found in Tainan’s toppled 16-storeyed Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building.
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Wang Ting-yu, a politician who represents the area, told reporters that a woman, Tsao Wei-ling, was found alive under her dead husband. A search was continuing for five other members of her family trapped inside.
Family members of the missing flooded into the information centre in search of their loved ones or to wait for news.
In September 1999, Taiwan was hit by a magnitude-7.3 natural disaster, which left more than 2400 people dead.
Japanese Cabinet Chief Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced Monday that Japan will donate US$1 million via its Red Cross to Taiwan to help with post-earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts.
Tainan City Mayor William Lai said survivors had reported legal “violations” in its construction but gave no further details.
“Fortunately we were stuck under a space created by a baby crib and a closet door, so that things won’t fall on us and air was able to get in”, she said from the hospital, where she was being treated for a leg injury.
More than 100 people are unaccounted for and believed trapped inside the building’s debris, the city government said.
Mayor Lai had earlier said that most of those still missing were trapped in lower stories, hindering rescue teams’ ability to access them. It happened just before the Lunar New Year, one of China’s most important holidays.
Local media reported the construction company that built the complex had gone out of business and questioned the materials used.
“The Holy Father was saddened to learn of the suffering caused by the deadly quake which struck in Tainan, leaving many people dead or seriously injured”, reads Sunday’s telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. While the rescue operations are still underway and organizations have been working relentlessly, the hope to find more survivors is fading away with each passing hour. Tainan’s government said the building had not been listed as a risky structure, and Taiwan’s interior minister, Chen Wei-zen, said an investigation would examine whether the developer had cut corners.
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“There are many old buildings across Taiwan… there should be an overall review of their resistance to earthquakes and other disasters”, she said during a hospital visit to survivors.
