Taiwan quake death toll rises to 55

TAIPEI - The death toll from the earthquake that struck southern Taiwan on Saturday had climbed to 55 as of 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, with more than 80 people missing.

The collapse of the Wei Guan building, the most seriously damaged, accounted for 53 of the deaths, according to an official update on the casualties.

The quake, which the China Earthquake Administration said had a magnitude of 6.7, hit Kaohsiung city at 3:57 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday, just two days ahead of the Lunar New Year. Local monitoring authorities put the scale of the quake at 6.4.