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3rd Ld: Five killed, hundreds injured in Taiwan quake

Xinhua, February 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

An earthquake in southern Taiwan early on Saturday morning damaged several buildings, leaving at least five people dead and hundreds injured, according to the island's disaster response center.

The disaster caused the total collapse of eight buildings and the partial collapse of another five in Tainan City.

Altogether, 318 people have been hospitalized, according to the island's medical and health authority.

Among those killed are a 10-day-old baby girl and a 40-year-old man.

By 8 a.m, 221 people had been evacuated from the collapsed 17-storey Wei Guan building in Yongkang District of Tainan, said Chen Wei-zen, head of the island's interior affairs authority, at a press conference.

A total of 256 people were registered as living inside the high-rise in more than 90 households.

Apart from firefighters, the island has dispatched about 850 soldiers for the rescue, according to Chen. Tainan is the main focus of their rescue efforts.

Authorities will need to find places to accommodate a large number of displaced residents, in freezing weather that has aggravated the situation.

Chen said the government will invite nearby hotels, temples, barracks and schools to meet the demand.

The Chinese mainland has offered to help Taiwan following the quake.

While addressing a Chinese New Year gathering on Saturday morning, Premier Li Keqiang sent condolences to the victims of the disaster.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) had been in contact with Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) since 6 a.m., around two hours after the quake. The ARATS has sent a letter to the SEF offering rescue assistance if needed.

Ma also expressed concern and condolences for those who have suffered.

The mainland's Red Cross Society has offered 2 million yuan (304,268 U.S. dollars) of disaster relief funds to Taiwan.

The earthquake hit Kaohsiung of Taiwan at a depth of 15 km at 3:57 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center, which said the quake had a magnitude of 6.7. The epicenter was monitored at 22.94 degrees north latitude and 120.54 degrees east longitude.

Taiwan's earthquake monitoring center put the scale of the quake at 6.4-magnitude, saying it was centered about 27 km northeast of Pingtung county seat. Endi