Earthquake hits Taiwan, killing 5 and injuring 318

Reports on Saturday morning said a powerful, shallow earthquake struck southern Taiwan before dawn. The shake collapsed two high-rise residential towers.

Five people have been killed and hundreds were injured.

According to Times of India, more than 220 people were pulled out from rubble, as rescuers raced against time to find dozens of others unaccounted for.

Firefighters and soldiers in worst-hit Tainan city scrambled with ladders, cranes and other equipment to the two towers that folded like an accordion in a pile of rubble and twisted metal and extracted dazed survivors.

Local media said the building complex included a care center for newborns and mothers.

The emergency response center told The Associated Press that “five people were killed, including a 10-day-old infant and a 40-year-old man. They were pulled out of a 17-story Wei Guan residential building and later declared dead”.