Earthquake Update

This user posted the image above showing how the five large downed buildings all lay along the fault.

The death toll has now reached 10, and 58 are still missing. Among the dead and missing are many people from other countries. A Filipino caregiver was found dead, and 2 Canadians were feared trapped in one collapsed building, along with 5 Chinese.

Over 100 aftershocks followed, many of them big enough to be felt here in Taichung, including five over 5.0. The Central Weather Bureau said it couldn't rule out another big one hitting soon. The CWB also said that the quake(s) were unprecedented:

The magnitude 6.0 temblor that struck Hualien late Tuesday has re-written Taiwan's earthquake history, as both the intensity and number of its foreshocks and aftershocks are higher than have ever been recorded in the region, according to the Central Weather Bureau.

News Lens has an excellent infographic on Taiwan's quakes.

The government might set up an independent inspection commission for buildings. That is something much needed...

Meanwhile, the rescue teams are doing yeoman work, and donations are pouring in. Taiwan is amazing when there is trouble, people really pull together.

MEDIA: Lawrence Chung, whose political sympathies will be well known to my readers, published a long diatribe in SCMP on Taipei's rejection of China's offer of help. The piece casts the blame on Taiwan...

The Mainland Affairs Council told the South China Morning Post it appreciated the offer of help – seen as an olive branch from Beijing at a tense time for cross-strait relations – but it had enough manpower and resources.

*sigh* All "olive branches" from Beijing are the fruit of the poisoned tree. Let us recall that in the Szechuan quake help from Taipei was rejected by Beijing.
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