THE search has come to an end as rescuers have found the body of the last missing resident from the earthquake that struck southern Taiwan on Saturday, Feb. 6.
The death toll of the quake reached 116.
At 15:57 Saturday, the body of the last missing resident was found in the ruins, ending the rescue work that has gone on for seven-and-a-half days.
The 6.7-magnitude quake hit Kaohsiung city at a depth of 15 km at 03:57 last Saturday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. Local monitoring authorities put the scale at a magnitude of 6.4.
The city of Tainan bore the brunt of the quake, especially a 16-story apartment building built in 1992 in the Yongkang district.
The U-shaped Weiguan Jinlong building fell toward a road on its east seconds after the quake, accounting for 114 deaths out of the 289 rescued from the building, according to an official update on the casualties.
At the time, the Weiguan Jinlong was crammed with more than 380 people, including many relatives of residents.
“I heard screams and could see people shouting for help from the windows of the collapsed building. It was like a living hell,” said Kok Mingkuan, a Taiwan resident.
The search-and-rescue effort started soon after the quake. In the first three days, known as the “golden 72 hours” for saving lives after a disaster, rescuers prioritized the search for signs of life.
Lin Ming-hui, the developer of the Weiguan Jinlong building, was arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide, along with two other men from his management team.
After the quake, local authorities started to evaluate damaged buildings reported by residents in Tainan. By 4 p.m. Saturday, more than 120 buildings were evaluated as not suitable for people to live in. Some of them must be dismantled, while others have to be consolidated.
An army of volunteers from religious and community groups have been churning out meals to make sure the rescuers and members of the media are properly fed.
“I just felt so much empathy for the victims of this disaster. I just couldn’t sit by and do nothing. So I had to come here to help out,” said Wang Siewyen, a volunteer.
The Chinese mainland has offered assistance as well.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, conveyed his condolences on Sunday to the victims in the earthquake.
Earthquakes frequently hit Taiwan. Most of them are minor, but a 7.3-magnitude quake, the strongest to hit Taiwan in about 100 years, shook the island on Sept. 21, 1999, leaving more than 2,000 people dead.