Rescuers searched through the rubble of collapsed buildings on Wednesday as they tried to locate about 150 people missing after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the popular Taiwanese tourist city of Hualien overnight
At least two people were killed and 219 injured in the quake that hit about 22 kilometres north of the city on Taiwan's eastern coast just before midnight (11pm Thai time) on Tuesday, officials said. The latest figures from government data indicated at least 149 people were missing.
Many of those were believed to be still trapped inside buildings, including a military hospital.
Residents waited and watched anxiously as emergency workers searched for residents trapped in the rubble. Powerful aftershocks have disrupted rescue efforts.
Hualien is home to about 100,000 people. Its streets were buckled by the force of the quake, with around 40,000 homes left without water and more than 600 without power.
Emergency workers surrounded a damaged military hospital in the area. Windows had collapsed and the building was wedged into the ground at a 40-degree angle.
Rescuers worked their way around and through the building while residents looked on from behind cordoned-off roads.
"We were still open when it happened," said Lin Ching-wen, who operates a restaurant near the military hospital.
"I grabbed my wife and children and we ran out and tried to rescue people," he said.
A Reuters video showed large cracks in the road, while police and emergency services tried to help anxious people roaming the streets.
President Tsai Ing-wen went to the scene of the quake early on Wednesday to help direct rescue operations.
Taiwan is prone to earthquakes. A quake with a magnitude of 6.1 struck nearby on Sunday.
More than 100 were killed in a quake in the south of the country in 2016. Many Taiwanese remain scarred by a 7.6 magnitude quake that was felt across the island and killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.
