News services say at least three people, including a baby and a 40-year-old man, have been killed in an earthquake in Taiwan.
A magnitude 6.4 quake shook the southern city of Tainan just before 4 a.m. local time Saturday. The shallow quake caused multiple structures to collapse, including one residential building where it is thought hundreds live.
NPR’s Elise Hu, in Taiwan, tells All Things Considered that the residential building of most concern was 17 stories tall but collapsed down to the height of about four stories.
Authorities in Tainan say 221 people have been rescued from collapsed buildings. More than 150 people are being treated for injuries.
“The timing is unfortunate because so many people were asleep in the [residences] that collapsed,” Elise says.
Elise reports that the transportation agency in Taiwan announced immediately that the trains in southern Taiwan would not be running. She notes that the halted trains will affect travel as it is the weekend before Chinese New Year.
She adds that power is out to about 120,000 people in southern Taiwan.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake was about 14 miles deep and light tremors were felt along the island’s entire west coast, up to the northern city of Taipei.
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