TAIPEI, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) — The death toll from the earthquake that struck southern Taiwan on Saturday had climbed to 94 as of 10:50 Friday, with about 30 people still missing.
The collapse of the 16-storey Wei Guan building in Tainan city, the most seriously damaged, accounted for 92 of the deaths, according to an official update on the casualties.
Rescuers said chances for finding out survivors from the dismantled building were becoming slim, but searching efforts would continue.
The quake, which the China Earthquake Administration said had a magnitude of 6.7, hit Kaohsiung city at 3:57 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday, just two days ahead of the Lunar New Year. Local monitoring authorities put the scale of the quake at 6.4.
Friday was the seventh day since the earthquake occurred.
Leading political figures including Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou and Taiwan leader-elect Tsai Ing-wen would go to Tainan city to attend mourning ceremonies.