Rescuers in remote villages of northwest China yesterday dug through the rubble of collapsed homes in freezing conditions after the nation’s deadliest earthquake in years killed at least 127 people.
State media said the shallow tremor just before midnight had caused the deaths of at least 113 and injured more than 530 in impoverished Gansu Province as of yesterday afternoon.
Another 14 died and 198 were injured in Haidong, Qinghai Province, the People’s Daily reported.
Photo: AFP
The quake damaged more than 155,000 buildings, according to state broadcaster CCTV, and sent residents running into the freezing streets for safety.
At a village near the epicenter, reporters saw huge cracks running through the exterior and interior walls of a brick home, and the roof of a building that had caved in completely.
“I am 70 and I have never experienced such a powerful quake in my life,” resident Ma Wenchang said. “I can’t live [in this house] anymore because it’s too dangerous. My relatives have been relocated somewhere else.”
In Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday expressed condolences to the families of those killed by the earthquake, saying that her government “stands ready to offer assistance.”
The president on social media offered her “sincere condolences” to “all those who have lost loved ones” after the magnitude 5.9 earthquake.
“Taiwan stands ready to offer assistance in the disaster response effort,” Tsai said, adding that she had instructed the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) to convey that message to Chinese authorities.
The MAC later said in a statement that it had acted accordingly through “existing communication mechanisms,” without elaborating.
The SEF is checking if any Taiwanese have been affected by the earthquake, the council added.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) also expressed condolences to the families of the victims, Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) said in a statement.
Chen said the government would provide assistance whenever there was a need, Lin added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言), who is visiting Guangdong Province in southern China, expressed the party’s sympathies over the disaster to the Chinese authorities, as well as its grief over the loss of lives.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the KMT was the first presidential candidate to express condolences to the victims.
“From the televised images, we on the other side of the Taiwan Strait can feel the horror of quake-induced disasters. We want to express our deepest condolences to victims and their families, and pray that the deceased will rest in peace. We also pray for recovery of the injured and that rescue operations proceed safely and smoothly,” he wrote on Facebook.
The Taipei Fire Department said it has prepared 72 emergency responders and two search dogs to assist in rescue efforts, pending a go-ahead from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or National Fire Agency.
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