Rescue: Epicenter just off east coast

in critical condition.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the earthquake jolted waters near Hualien about 11:50 pm on Tuesday. The epicenter was monitored just off the island’s east coast, at 24.13 degrees north latitude and 121.71 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 11 kilometers, according to CENC.

The earthquake — the most severe to hit Hualien in five decades — was followed by a series of aftershocks, including several measuring over magnitude 5.

Hualien has a population of about 100,000.

The local fire agency said 88 people were unaccounted for as of 2 pm but it was not immediately clear how many of those were trapped inside buildings.

In Hualien, four buildings had partially collapsed or tilted. The 12-story Yun Men Tusi Ti residential building, which also housed a restaurant, shops and a hostel, is a focus of rescue efforts.

A man who lives nearby described witnessing the building partially collapsing.

“I saw the first floor sink into the ground. Then it sank and tilted further, and the fourth floor became the first floor,” said Lu Chih-son, 35, who saw 20 people rescued from the building.

“My family were unhurt, but a neighbor was injured and is bleeding. We dare not go back home now. There are many aftershocks, and we are worried the house is damaged,” he said.

Chen Chih-wei, 80, said he was sleeping in his apartment on the top floor of the building when the quake struck.

“My bed turned completely vertical. I was sleeping and suddenly I was standing,” he said, adding that he managed to crawl his way to a balcony to wait for rescue.

The highway from Suao to Hualien was temporarily closed.

The earthquake initially knocked out power to about 1,900 households, but most had been restored by Wednesday night. Some 35,000 households lost their water supply, the local fire agency said.

The quake came nearly two years to the day after a magnitude 6.7 quake struck Kaohsiung, killing 116 people. Since Feb 4, more than 100 quakes have jolted the eastern region.

35,000 households lost their water supply, according to the local fire agency in Hualien.