Nearly NT$500 million (US$15.62 million) of donations have been received by the Taiwan Foundation for Disaster Relief for relief in Hualien after an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale struck the county on Wednesday last week.
A special account had received donations from more than 120,000 sources totaling more than NT$498 million as of 11:59pm on Tuesday, the foundation said yesterday.
The foundation opened the account on Thursday last week after the Cabinet instructed the Ministry of Health and Welfare to establish a means to receive disaster relief donations.
Photo provided to CNA by a member of the public
The earthquake — the most powerful to strike Taiwan in 25 years — killed 16 people and injured more than 1,000.
The foundation said that it received more than NT$362.42 million in donations via a Land Bank of Taiwan account, NT$94.25 million via Line Pay and NT$41.63 million through online fundraising platform WaBay.
It said that the total would be updated on Monday each week, as the nation’s four major convenience store chains on Tuesday launched donations through their kiosks, but they calculate the money they receive on different schedules.
The money would be used for four main purposes: disaster assistance; emergency medical services; shelter and resettlement; and restoration and reconstruction, the foundation said, adding that it would be allocated as specialized projects according to reports on need by agencies and non-governmental organizations.
In other news, a cat owned by a woman surnamed Kang (康), who died while attempting to rescue it from a building in Hualien that partially collapsed during the earthquake, was spotted alive in the building on Tuesday, the Hualien County Fire Department said.
Kang’s cat was seen when another orange tabby was found stuck behind bars in a window on the seventh floor of the building amid demolition work.
While watching a video of the rescue, people spotted another orange cat in another part of the building.
Kang’s family confirmed that it was indeed her cat.
The fire department said it had set a trap at the site to try to rescue the cat.
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