23 killed, 120 missing after earthquake strikes Taiwan

At least 23 people were killed and scores injured when a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on Saturday.

Rescuers in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan were fighting against the clock to pull more people alive from a collapsed apartment tower on Sunday, and kept searching for about 120 people still believed trapped in the ruins of the building, 24 hours after a strong quake shook the island.

A 20-year-old man was pulled alive from of the wreckage on Sunday but the city’s mayor admitted that emergency teams face a “very difficult” challenge to rescue dozens of other people who remain trapped.

Firefighters, police, soldiers and volunteers combed through the ruins, some using their hands, watched anxiously by dozens of the victims' family members who wore thick jackets, woollen hats and scarves on a chilly morning.

"She's not answering my phone calls ... I am trying to hold my emotions and stay strong. I'll do that until I find her," said a woman surnamed Chang, 42, waiting to hear from her 24-year-old daughter who lived on the fifth floor of the complex.

At least 23 people are known to have died in the quake, which struck at about 4 a.m. on Saturday, at the beginning of a Lunar New Year holiday, including 16 found in the collapsed Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building in the southern city of Tainan. The dead taken from the collapsed apartment block on Saturday included a 10-day-old girl who was found in her dead father’s arms, media reported.

Around 120 people are still beneath the rubble of the commercial-residential block, with most them trapped deep in the wreckage, the government said.

 “Of the 132 people desperately waiting for rescue, 103 people are buried very deep, there’s no way to get to them direct, it’s very difficult,” said Tainan mayor William Lai on Sunday.

Lai told reporters that efforts were focusing on 29 people who are closest to the rescuers, with lighter equipment like drills being used.

Bodies continue to be found, including those of two sisters, aged 18 and 23, Taiwanese media reported.

The building's lower floors pancaked on top of each other in the 6.4 magnitude quake and then the whole structure toppled, raising immediate questions about the quality of materials and workmanship used in its construction in the 1990s.

Liu Shih-chung, Tainan city government deputy secretary general, said television footage of its ruins suggested the possibility of structural problems related to poor-quality reinforced steel and cement.

However, city officials have said it is too early to say for certain if poor construction was a factor in the collapse.

Authorities said the building had 96 apartments and 256 registered residents, though more people were inside when it collapsed.