5th Ld: 11 killed, hundreds injured in Taiwan quake

At least 11 people, including a new-born infant, were killed and 462 injured when a powerful, shallow earthquake struck southern Taiwan early Saturday, just two days ahead of the traditional lunar New Year.

More than 170 people are still unaccounted for.

The 6.7-magnitude quake hit Kaohsiung city at 3:57 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. The epicenter was measured at a depth of 15 kilometers. Local monitoring authorities put the scale of the quake at 6.4-magnitude.

In the historic city of Tainan, which bore the brunt of the quake, eight buildings collapsed and another five were partially damaged.

Altogether, over 240 survivors have been pulled from the rubble,rescuers said.

Among those killed are a 10-day-old baby girl. She was among ten people killed in the collapse of a 16-story Wei Guan residential building in the Yongkang District of Tainan.

The Wei Guan building, left on its side with twisted metal girders exposed, was said to be home to 256 people in 92 households.

Firefighters and soldiers used ladders, excavators and other equipment to pull survivors out of rubble and through twisted windows. By 1:20 p.m., 246 people had been evacuated or pulled out by rescuers.

Social volunteers nearby are helping locals register unreachable relatives.

So far, 172 people, including 120 adults and 52 children, are still unaccounted for.

Rescuers on site said they could still hear calls for help from inside the collapsed building, but have to consolidate the collapsed building parts first before saving the rest.

They were also not sure exactly how many people were still trapped under the debris, fearing there may be more people in the building than usual as families may have housed guests to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday next week.

A survivor who had just been rescued when a Xinhua reporter arrived at the scene was conscious on a stretcher. After rescuers asked him about the locations of other people trapped, he was rushed to a medical station for further treatment.

"It was horrible! No way to celebrate our new year," a resident of the Wei Guan building who gave his surname as Pan told Xinhua.

A lady surnamed Cheng said her brother, sister-in-law and their two daughters were still trapped.

"Their mobile phones are disconnected," she said. "Their landline rings but no one answers."

Apart from firefighters, the island has dispatched about 850 soldiers for the rescue, said Chen Wei-zen, head of the island's interior affairs authority, at a press conference in the morning.

Tainan is the main focus of their rescue efforts, according to Chen.

Authorities will need to find places to accommodate a large number of displaced residents, with freezing weather complicating 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.

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 sent a letter to the SEF offering rescue assistance if needed.

The State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office meanwhile said the mainland is ready to provide all necessary assistance in quake relief. Office head Zhang Zhijun said so far no mainland tourists in Taiwan have been affected in the quake.

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

Earthquakes frequently hit Taiwan. Most of them are minor, but a 7.3-magnitude quake, the strongest to hit Taiwan in about 100 years, shook the island on Sept. 21, 1999, leaving more than 2,000 people dead. Endi