108 dead, 9 missing a week after Taiwan quake

TAIPEI - The death toll from the earthquake that struck southern Taiwan's Tainan city on Feb. 6 had climbed to 108 by 7 a.m. Saturday, with nine still missing.

The 16-storey Weiguan Jinlong building fell down toward a road on its east side seconds after the earthquake, accounting for 106 of the deaths, according to an official update on the casualties.

Meanwhile, 281 people were rescued out of the building, but nine were still missing more than a week after the quake.

The quake, which the China Earthquake Administration said had a magnitude of 6.7, hit southern Taiwan at 3:57 a.m. on Feb. 6, just two days before the Chinese Lunar New Year.

At that time, the Weiguan Jinlong building was crammed with about 380 people, including many relatives of residents.

Rescuers started searching efforts soon after the quake and are still search for the missing, but no survivor has been discovered since late Monday.

At present, all the 9 missing stayed in Unit A and Unit G. When the building with units A to I toppled, Unit H fell upon Unit A on the southern side of the building, while Unit I fell upon Unit G on the north, making it hard for people in those two units to escape.