Quake topples Taiwan hotel

Taipei, Taiwan – 7 February 2018 – 
A hotel on the east coast of Taiwan has collapsed after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake, the national fire agency said, with reports that several other buildings have been toppled with some people trapped.

1 Taipei, Taiwan

Images on local television showed the Marshal Hotel in Hualien slanted on its side, partially crumpled into the ground, Agence France-Presse reported.

Media reports said there were 30 people trapped inside with others crawling to safety.

The fire agency said a second hotel had also been damaged, with television images showing roads strewn with rubble and cracks in highways.

The quake hit at 23.50 pm around 21 kilometres northeast of the port city Hualien, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The quake comes almost exactly two years since a quake of the same magnitude struck the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, killing more than 100 people.