TAIPEI, Taiwan: A strong earthquake shook much of Taiwan on Sunday, toppling a three-story building and temporarily trapping four people inside, stranding about 400 tourists on a mountainside, and knocking part of a passenger train off its tracks.
\nOne person died and nine people had minor injuries, Taiwan\u2019s Emergency Operations Center said.
\nThe magnitude 6.8 quake was the largest among dozens that have rattled the island\u2019s southeastern coast since Saturday evening, when a 6.4 quake struck the same area.
\nMost of the damage appeared to be north of the epicenter, which Taiwan\u2019s Central Weather Bureau said was in the town of Chishang at the relatively shallow depth of 7 kilometers (4 miles).
\nIn nearby Yuli town, a cement factory worker died and the three-story building, which had a 7-11 convenience store on the ground floor and residences above it, collapsed, the island\u2019s Central News Agency said.
\nThe 70-year-old owner of the building and his wife were rescued first, but it took longer to get to a 39-year-old woman and her 5-year-old daughter.
\nA photo released by the Hualien city government showed the girl lying on a blanket and being handed down a metal ladder from the top of the debris by helmeted rescue workers in orange uniforms.
\nThe top two stories of the building were left sprawled across a small street and onto the other side, with electricity wires pulled down by the fallen structure.
\nMore than 7,000 households were reported without power in Yuli, and water pipes were also damaged. Shelves and musical instruments fell over at the Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church and a long crack ran down its floor. Outside, the pavement was broken into slabs of concrete.
\nPolice and firefighters rushed to a bridge collapse on a two-lane road in what appeared to be a rural part of the same town where three people and one or more vehicles may have fallen off, according to media reports.
\nAlso in Yuli, a landslide trapped nearly 400 tourists on a mountain famous for the orange day lilies that blanket its slopes this time of year, the Central News Agency said. They had no electricity and a weak cellphone signal.
\nDebris from a falling canopy on a platform at Dongli station in Fuli town, which is between Yuli and the epicenter at Chishang, hit a passing train, derailing six cars, the Central News Agency said, citing the railway administration. None of the 20 passengers were injured.
\nThe shaking was felt at the north end of the island in the capital, Taipei. In Taoyuan city, west of Taipei and 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of the epicenter, a man was injured by a ceiling collapse on the 5th floor of a sports center.
\nThe Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory for several southern Japanese islands near Taiwan, but later lifted it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TAIPEI, Taiwan: A strong earthquake shook much of Taiwan on Sunday, toppling a three-story building and temporarily trapping four people inside, stranding about 400 tourists on a mountainside, and knocking part of a passenger train off its tracks. One person died and nine people had minor injuries, Taiwan\u2019s Emergency Operations Center said. The magnitude 6.8 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-284318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n