This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/death-toll-from-taiwan-quake-hits-34-hunt-on-for-survivors/2016/02/07/2b4799de-cdfb-11e5-90d3-34c2c42653ac_story.html

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 6 Version 7
Survivors pulled out from building 2 days after Taiwan quake Survivors pulled out from building 2 days after Taiwan quake
(about 3 hours later)
TAINAN, Taiwan — Two survivors — one found shielded under the body of her husband — were pulled out alive from a toppled high-rise apartment building on Monday, two days after a powerful quake in southern Taiwan killed at least 37. TAINAN, Taiwan — At least three people, including an 8-year-old girl, were rescued Monday from a high-rise Taiwanese apartment building toppled by a powerful quake two days earlier, as frustration grew among families waiting for searchers to reach their buried loved ones.
Taiwan’s Eastern Broadcasting Corp. reported that Tsao Wei-ling called out “Here I am” as rescuers dug through to find her. A male survivor, Lee Tsung-tien, 42, was pulled out conscious from the sixth floor section of the folded 17-story building. More than 100 people are believed to still be under the debris in a disaster that struck during the most important family holiday in the Chinese calendar — the Lunar New Year.
Rescuers also found signs of life from a 28-year-old woman who is a migrant worker and an 8-year-old girl, both conscious but trapped in the fifth-floor section, according to a notice posted at a rescue information center on site. Saturday’s quake killed at least 38 people in Tainan city in southern Taiwan, all but two of them in the collapse of the 17-story building. Even though the 6.4-magnitude quake was shallow, few buildings were reported to have been damaged, which experts said was because Taiwan’s building standards are high.
More than 100 people are believed to be still buried in the collapsed building from a disaster that struck during the most important family holiday in the Chinese calendar — the Lunar New Year holiday. Authorities have managed to rescue more than 170 people — the vast majority in the immediate hours after the quake — from the folded building using information about the building layout and the possible location of those trapped.
Family members of the missing continued to flood into the information center in search of their loved ones or sit by anxiously. Some of them walked around with green name cards around their necks indicating their missing relative’s name and location in the building. Five survivors were believed to have been pulled out on Sunday, and at least three on Monday. One of them, Tsao Wei-ling, called out “Here I am” as rescuers dug through to find her, Taiwan’s Eastern Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The government in Tainan, the worst-hit city, said that more than 170 people had been rescued from the 17-story building, which folded like an accordion after the quake struck. She was found under the body of her husband, who had shielded her from a collapsed beam, the government-run Central News Agency reported. Tsao’s husband and 2-year-son were found dead, and five other members of the family remained unaccounted for, it said.
“It was all topsy-turvy. You couldn’t even tell where the ceiling was,” a 15-year-old survivor, only identified by his surname, Hu, said on EBC Television. He said he had crawled out of a window to alert rescuers to his parents’ location, and they were all rescued soon after Saturday’s quake. Rescuers also pulled out an 8-year-old girl and a 42-year-old man from the building on Monday.
The death toll from the powerful 6.4-magnitude quake stood at 37. Thirty-five of those were from the building collapse in Tainan city, and two other people died elsewhere in the city. They also found signs of life from a 28-year-old Vietnamese woman trapped on the fifth floor, according to a notice posted at a rescue information center.
Rescuers said Tsao was found under the body of her husband, who had shielded her from a collapsed beam, Taiwan’s government-run Central News Agency reported. Her husband and 2-year-son were found dead, while five members of her family remained unaccounted for, it said. Family members of the missing flooded into the information center in search of their loved ones or to wait anxiously.
Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage, though a magnitude-7.6 quake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people. Tensions rose as some relatives, losing patience, demanded to speak to rescue workers directly to get the latest information.
The spectacular fall of the high-rise, built in 1989, raised questions about whether its construction had been shoddy. Tainan’s government said the building had not been listed as a dangerous structure, and Taiwan’s interior minister, Chen Wei-zen, said an investigation would examine whether the developer had cut corners. A couple sitting in a small room where officials release information said they had heard no news about their son and his family, including their young grandsons.
Chen Fu-yuan, chairman of a Tainan structural engineers’ association whose members assessed whether it was safe for rescuers to carry out work, said the building may have collapsed because its foundations, built on loose earth, may not have been strong enough or because its construction materials weren’t of sufficient quality. “But this needs to be evaluated by authorities,” he said. “Does that mean we are here to wait for bodies?” grandfather Liu Meng-hsun cried out angrily.
Chen said that Taiwan has had anti-quake standards for buildings since the 1970s, but they had become stricter over time, particularly after the 1999 earthquake. Outside, a woman stood at the edge of the rubble shouting, “Your grandma is here!” Rescuers had detected life within the area where the 16th-floor apartment of her son and his family was thought to be, and were said to have heard the sound of a child.
The extended Lunar New Year holiday officially started Monday, but celebrations were subdued and both President Ma Ying-jeou and President-elect Tsai Ing-wen canceled the handing out of envelopes of cash in their hometowns, a holiday tradition for Taiwan’s leader. Her son, surnamed Wu, got out of the building soon after the quake, but his wife and their 4-year-old girl remained trapped, according to volunteers assisting the family.
Earthquakes rattle Taiwan frequently. Most are minor and cause little or no damage, though a magnitude-7.6 quake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.
The spectacular fall of the high-rise, built in 1989, raised questions about whether its construction had been shoddy. The government says it will investigate whether the developer cut corners.
Huang Jia-rui, a structural engineer in Tainan, said Taiwan’s buildings aren’t as quake-proof as Japan’s, which is a leader in engineering quake-proof structures, but the island is catching up.
The extended Lunar New Year holiday officially started Monday, but celebrations were subdued and both President Ma Ying-jeou and President-elect Tsai Ing-wen canceled the traditional handing out of envelopes of cash in their hometowns.
______
Associated Press writer Louise Watt and news assistant Henry Hou in Beijing, and Christopher Bodeen in Qingdao, China, contributed to this report.Associated Press writer Louise Watt and news assistant Henry Hou in Beijing, and Christopher Bodeen in Qingdao, China, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.