Five dead, 150 missing after major quake in Taiwan

Firemen search a collapsed building after the earthquake hit Hualien, Taiwan, late Tuesday night. (Reuters photo)

HUALIEN, Taiwan: Rescuers combed through the rubble of collapsed buildings on Wednesday, some digging with their hands, as they searched for about 150 people missing after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the popular Taiwanese tourist city of Hualien overnight.

At least five people were killed and 219 injured in the quake that hit near the coastal city just before midnight (11pm Thai time) on Tuesday, officials said. The latest figures from government data indicated at least 149 people were missing.

Many of those were believed to be still trapped inside buildings, including a military hospital, after the quake hit about 22 kilometres northeast of Hualien on Taiwan's east coast.

Residents waited and watched anxiously as emergency workers dressed in fluorescent orange and red suits and wearing helmets searched for residents trapped in apartment blocks.

Hualien is home to about 100,000 people. Its streets were buckled by the force of the quake, with around 40,000 homes left without water and more than 600 without power.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits near Hulien city, Taiwan. (Reuters video)

Emergency workers surrounded a damaged military hospital in the area. Windows had collapsed and the building was wedged into the ground at a 40-degree angle.

Rescuers worked their way around and through the building while residents looked on from behind cordoned-off roads.

"We were still open when it happened," said Lin Ching-wen, who operates a restaurant near the military hospital.

"I grabbed my wife and children and we ran out and tried to rescue people," he said.

A Reuters video showed large cracks in the road, while police and emergency services tried to help anxious people roaming the streets.

President Tsai Ing-wen went to the scene of the quake early on Wednesday to help direct rescue operations.

"The president has asked the cabinet and related ministries to immediately launch the 'disaster mechanism' and to work at the fastest rate on disaster relief work," Tsai's office said in a statement.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker and major Apple supplier, said initial assessments indicated no impact from the earthquake.

Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers part of its territory, lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 struck nearby on Sunday.

More than 100 were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, and some Taiwanese remain scarred by a 7.6 magnitude quake that was felt across the island and killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.