BEIJING: A strong earthquake was felt in Taiwan on Sunday, causing at least one building to collapse and three people buried under its rubble. Due to the earthquake, some coaches of the passenger train also derailed at a station. On Sunday, the quake measured at 6.8, the most powerful of dozens of aftershocks being felt in the island country’s southeast since Saturday. Tremors of 6.4 magnitudes were felt in the same area on Saturday evening.
Taiwan’s Central Meteorological Bureau said that the epicenter of the quake was just seven kilometers below the surface near the city of Chishang. Taiwan’s Central News Agency said the quake caused the collapse of a three-story building near the city of Yuli, with seven to 11 shops on the lower floors and people living on the upper floors.
According to the news agency, one person has been pulled out of the rubble while (Relief and Rescue) personnel are in touch with the remaining three people trapped. It is seen in the pictures that after the collapse of the upper two floors, the debris fell on the narrow road, due to which the electric wires were also broken. The bridge on the road connecting Yuli’s rural areas collapsed and police and firefighters rushed to the spot, the Central News Agency reported.
The agency quoted the railway administration as saying that three coaches of a train parked there tilted to one side after an umbrella built on top of the platform fell at Dongli station in Phuli city between Yuli and the epicenter of the earthquake. Tremors of the earthquake were also felt in the north of Taiwan’s capital Taipei. Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for several islands in southern Japan near Taiwan, which was later withdrawn.
