RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service

Situation Update No. 2

Posted:2010-03-04, 04:19:08 [UTC]

Ref.no.: EQ-20100304-25197-TWN

Situation Update No. 2
On 2010-03-05 at 04:16:47 [UTC]

Event: Earthquake
Location: Taiwan Kaohsiung County 30 km E Meinung

Number of Injured: 96 person(s)

A powerful earthquake and more than a dozen aftershocks jolted southern Taiwan overnight, injuring 96 people, toppling farm houses and derailing a carriage on a high-speed train. Panicked residents fled shaking buildings and children were rushed out of schools in the 6.4-magnitude quake, which also momentarily cut off electricity to more than half a million homes. The US Geological Survey said the tremor struck about 70km from the island's second-largest city Kaohsiung, but was felt as far north as the capital Taipei, several hundred kilometres away. "We are monitoring the aftermath for any potential damage," President Ma Ying-jeou said during a hastily arranged trip to Tainan, a city north of the epicentre. Out of the 96 officially counted as injured by 10pm local time, 53 were in Tainan county, the national fire agency said. The quake struck in a sparsely inhabited mountainous area in Jiahsian township in Kaohsiung county, an area still recovering from a massive typhoon that triggered floods and mudslides in August, killing about 700 people. "It felt like the buildings were going to collapse," said Chen Pei-chi, a teacher in Shiaolin Elementary School in a village close to the epicentre. "I tried to get out, but my legs failed me because I was so frightened. Many children were screaming while they were running out of the classrooms." It was the biggest earthquake to hit the Kaohsiung area in recent years, the weather bureau reported, adding the initial quake was followed by 19 aftershocks. The strongest, with a magnitude of 5.7, hit eight hours later. Local television showed footage of collapsed farm houses in Kaohsiung county as well as cracked walls and falling ceiling panels in buildings in the nearby Chiayi area. Islandwide, 540,000 homes were left temporarily without power. The quake derailed a train carriage on the high-speed rail connecting the north and the south of the island, leaving passengers stranded for two hours, the national fire agency said, but there were no casualties. A fire broke out in a textile factory in Tainan county, with one worker slightly hurt during the evacuation, the agency said. Television footage showed thick black smoke billowing from the building. No tsunami warning was issued from the quake, which the USGS said struck at a depth of 35km. Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes as the island lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.