Buildings collapse from Taiwan quake, at least 18 dead (Updated Sunday)

Officials say four buildings collapsed in a 6.4-magnitude quake which struck the island in the early hours of Saturday morning, killing at least 18. Rescue efforts are centring on a tower block that tumbled onto its side.

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Sunday morning update

The death toll, now at 18, will likely keep rising as rescuers work frantically to free more than 100 people still buried in the rubble. "Of the 132 people desperately waiting for rescue, 103 people are buried very deep, there's no way to get to them direct, it's very difficult," said Tainan mayor William Lai early Sunday.

Saturday evening update

The BBC and AP now report the death toll has risen to 13 with more than 100 still missing. Here is an earlier report from AFP

AFP – A powerful earthquake in Taiwan felled a 16-storey apartment complex full of families who had gathered for Lunar New Year celebrations Saturday, with at least eleven dead and more than 30 feared trapped.

The death toll was rising in the historic city of Tainan, which bore the brunt of the 6.4-magnitude quake, as rescuers scoured rubble for survivors.

Rescuers work over rubble at the site of a collapsed building in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan on February 6, 2016 following a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake. AFP PHOTO / Sam Yeh / AFP / SAM YEH

An entire residential complex of four buildings containing almost 100 homes toppled, left on its side with twisted metal girders exposed and clouds of dust rising from the jumbled concrete.

Among the nine people killed when the apartment complex collapsed were a 10-day old baby girl and two other children, the National Fire Agency said.

The other two victims were killed in different parts of the city by falling debris, the agency said.

Officials say they are unsure how many residents may still be inside, but media reports estimated at least 30 could be trapped.

Three dead after Taiwan quake topples buildings

AFP – A 10-month old baby was among three dead after a 16-storey tower block was toppled by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in southern Taiwan Saturday, with rescuers battling to free residents still trapped inside.

Officials said four buildings collapsed in the quake which struck the island in the early hours of the morning, but rescue efforts are centring on the tower block that tumbled onto its side.

Firefighters pulled survivors from the twisted concrete, trying to access apartments through windows and scaling the rubble with ladders.

The baby, a man and a woman were pulled dead from the block, officials said, with 29 residents hospitalised.

Rescue personnel carry a survivor at the site of a collapsed building in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan following a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the island early on February 6, 2016. /AFP/Johnson Liu

"These three people showed no signs of life before they were sent to the hospital," said Lin Kuan-cheng, spokesman for the National Fire Agency.

"The search and rescue work continues there, home by home."

More than 100 residents have now been freed from the rubble, with local media reporting the tower contained more than 200 homes.

Officials were unable to give an estimate of how many were still trapped as they scoured the building.

At least 30 people have been freed from another residential seven-storey building with reports that over 200 have been rescued across the city and more than 100 sent to hospital.

One woman told how she had fought her way out of her home in one of the collapsed blocks.

"I used a hammer to break the door of my home which was twisted and locked, and managed to climb out," she told local channel SET TV, weeping as she spoke.

Saturday morning drone footage

The shallow quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres around 2000 GMT Friday in the southern part of the island, according to the US Geological Survey, 39 kilometres northeast of Kaohsiung, the second-largest city on the island and an important port.

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