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NewsFebruary 7, 2016

TAINAN, Taiwan -- Rescuers were searching late Saturday for more than 100 people still missing after a powerful, shallow earthquake struck southern Taiwan before dawn, causing a high-rise residential building to collapse and killing at least 14 people and injuring hundreds...

By GLADYS TSAI ~ Associated Press
A young girl is rescued from a collapsed building after an earthquake in Tainan, Taiwan, on Saturday.
A young girl is rescued from a collapsed building after an earthquake in Tainan, Taiwan, on Saturday.

TAINAN, Taiwan -- Rescuers were searching late Saturday for more than 100 people still missing after a powerful, shallow earthquake struck southern Taiwan before dawn, causing a high-rise residential building to collapse and killing at least 14 people and injuring hundreds.

More than 340 people were rescued from the rubble in Tainan, the city hit worst by the quake. About 2,000 firefighters and soldiers scrambled with ladders, cranes and other equipment to the ruins of the 17-floor residential building, which folded like an accordion onto its side after the quake struck.

The spectacular fall of the building immediately raised questions about its construction, and Taiwan's interior minister said there would be an investigation.

The official CNA news agency reported the quake killed 14 people and injured 484 others, according to statistics by Taiwan's rescue authorities. Most of the injured had been released from hospitals by Saturday night.

CNA said 153 people remained missing and rescuers were racing to find them. Taiwan's SETV reported 101 adults and 41 children were missing. The number of missing was expected to drop because some of those listed might have been listed twice, hospitalized or not in the building at the time of the quake.

President Ma Ying-jeou visted a hospital and the emergency response center in Tainan before rushing back to the capital, Taipei, to attend a briefing on the situation.

The quake came two days before the start of Lunar New Year celebrations that mark the most important family holiday in the Chinese calendar. The collapsed building had 256 registered residents, but far more people could have been inside when it fell because the population might have swelled ahead of the holiday, when families typically host guests.

Local media said the building included a care center for newborns and mothers, and a newborn was among those confirmed dead in the disaster.

Most people were asleep when the magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit at about 4 a.m., 22 miles southeast of Yujing. It struck only 6 miles underground, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shallow earthquakes generally cause more damage than deeper ones.

Authorities in Tainan said that of the 14 people killed in the quake, 11 were found at the ruins of the fallen building.

Rescuers found the bodies of a 10-day-old infant, three other children and six adults at the collapsed building, Taiwan's emergency management information center said. One other death was reported at the site, but details were not immediately available.

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Authorities said two people were killed by falling objects elsewhere in Tainan. No details were available on the 14th death, reported Saturday night.

Rescuers pulled out at least 247 survivors from the collapsed building, the emergency management information center said. Throughout Tainan, 334 people were rescued, the city government said.

Elsewhere in Tainan, dozens of other people were rescued or safely evacuated from damaged structures or buildings declared unsafe following the quake, including a market and a seven-floor building, authorities said. A bank building also careened, but no one was injured.

All told, nine buildings collapsed and five careened in Tainan, the emergency management information center said.

As dawn broke, Taiwanese TV showed survivors being brought gingerly from the high-rise, including an elderly woman in a neck brace and others wrapped in blankets. The trappings of daily life -- a partially crushed air conditioner, pieces of a metal balcony, windows -- lay twisted in rubble.

People with their arms around firefighters were being helped from the building, and cranes were being used to search darkened parts of the structure for survivors.

The emergency management information center said 1,236 rescuers from outside Tainan were deployed, including 840 from the army, along with six helicopters and 23 rescue dogs.

Tainan's municipal government said it mobilized nearly 600 professional and volunteer firefighters.

The quake was felt as a lengthy, rolling shake in the capital, Taipei, on the other side of the island. But Taipei was quiet, with no sense of emergency or obvious damage just before dawn.

On Saturday night, Madonna performed before thousands of fans at Taipei Arena, offering her condolences to those affected by the quake, CNA reported.

Residents in mainland China also reported the tremor was felt there. The Beijing government offered to help as needed.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage. However, a magnitude-7.6 quake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.

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