Tainan in southern Taiwan hit by magnitude 6.4 quake

The shallow quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) around 2000 GMT Friday, according to the US Geological Survey, 39 kilometres northeast of Kaohsiung, the second-largest city on the island and an important port. Numerous people inside the 17-storey residential building were sleeping at the time of the quake.

The building has 60 apartments and it was unclear how many people were trapped inside, Li Bomin, an official from Tainan City Fire Department, told CNN earlier.

Taiwan’s China Post newspaper said: “Collapsed buildings reported in Tainan, with rescue workers arriving on scene”.

The building appeared to have collapsed onto the first story where a child’s clothes were visible fluttering on a laundry line.

According to the USGS, the last time Taiwan was struck by a quake of the same magnitude as Saturday’s was in April 2015, but that temblor was much deeper. Newscasters said other areas of the city were still being canvassed for possible damage.

About two hours after the tremor, Taiwanese television EBC showed live images of a rescue at a partially collapsed building in Tainan. But Taipei was quiet, with no sense of emergency or obvious damage just before dawn.

At least two people were killed Saturday morning when a magnitude-6.4 quake hit Taiwan, the country’s Disaster Response Center said.