Strong earthquake hits southern Taiwan, causing damage, injuring 64 people

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Strong earthquake hits southern Taiwan, causing damage, injuring 64 people

Thu Mar 4, 8:30 AM

By Enav, The Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan - A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan on

Thursday, terrifying residents, disrupting communications and triggering at

least one large fire. Sixty-four people were injured, the National Fire Agency

said.

No tsunami alert was issued. The quake was centred in the same mountainous

region of rural Kaohsiung county that endured the brunt of the damage from

Typhoon Morakot, a devastating storm that killed about 700 people last August.

Taiwanese actor Chu Chung-heng said he and other passengers were close to panic

when the high-speed train on which they were travelling was dislodged from its

track by the quake.

" Many people in my car were screaming, " he said. " I was so scared that I

couldn't make a sound. The train shook very hard, and I thought it was going to

overturn. "

Rail service in southern and central Taiwan was suspended, as was the

state-of-the-art subway system in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan's second largest with a

population of 1.5 million. Kaohsiung is about 250 miles (400 kilometres) south

of Taipei.

In nearby Tainan, a fire broke out in a textile factory shortly after the quake

hit, sending huge plumes of black smoke billowing into the air. Power outages

struck Taipei and at least one county to the south, and telephone service in

many parts of Taiwan was spotty.

Kuo Kai-wen, director of the Central Weather Bureau's Seismology Center, said

the quake was not geologically related to the massive temblor that hit Chile

last Saturday, but its intensity was unusual for the area.

" This is the biggest quake to hit this region in more than a century, " he said.

The quake's epicenter was near the town of Jiashian, especially hard hit by last

year's typhoon. A Kaohsiung county official told CTI TV news that some temporary

housing built for typhoon survivors collapsed.

The Ministry of Defence said troops were dispatched to Jiashian to report on the

extent of the damage.

In nearby Liugui an unidentified high school student described the quake as

terrifying. " Everyone was running out of the classroom, and some people fell in

the rush, " she told ETTV.

The fire agency said 64 people had been injured.

A spokesman for President Ma Ying-jeou said authorities had been instructed to

follow the quake situation closely and take steps to mitigate damage and

dislocation. Ma was widely criticized for his government's slow response to last

year's typhoon.

The presidential office said he planned to visit Tainan on Thursday afternoon.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan but most are minor and cause little or no

damage.

However, a 7.6-magnitude temblor in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than

2,300 people. In 2006 a 6.7-magnitude quake south of Kaohsiung severed undersea

cables and disrupted telephone and Internet service for millions throughout

Asia.