Earthquake in Taiwan....prayers for Eggy

Heard from Eggy Oz this am a devestating Earthquake has hit Taiwan and that is her familys home,she can,t get hold of her family and only has news from a relative in malaysia,please I,m sure you,ll join in me in sending prayers to her and wishing her family safety.this is what she sent me this am.

Earthquake hits Taiwan, killing hundreds
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Taipei --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated at 10.10am:
The strongest quake in Taiwan in decades jolted the island early this morning, killing at least 400 people, wrecking a 12-storey hotel in Taipei and destroying more than 100 homes islandwide, the government said.
About 2,000 people were injured.

The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 and was centred 145 kilometres south-southwest of Taipei, the US Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Centre said. It also issued warnings of possible tsunamis, or huge waves that sometimes follow earthquakes.

The earthquake was about the same strength as the devastating quake that struck Turkey on August 17, killing more than 15,000 people.

Most of the victims were found in the central city of Taichung and nearby Nantou, the epicentre 220 kilometres south of the capital Taipei. Several roads were buckled and traffic was disrupted, isolating many remote towns.

President Lee Teng-hui flew by helicopter to Taichung to direct rescue work while Vice President Lien Chan went to Nantou.

Hospitals in towns and cities in central Taiwan were packed with injured people, and television stations urged doctors, nurses and others with medical training to join in the rescue work.

Television showed doctors treating victims in bandages or wrapped in quilts as they were rushed to hospitals.

In Taipei, the quake wrecked the 78-room Sungshan Hotel, collapsing the bottom stories and setting the badly damaged top listing to one side.

Fire crews turned hoses on the wreckage as smoke poured from fires raging in several destroyed rooms. Sixty people were still feared trapped in the building, with 49 people already evacuated and sent to the hospital. Another 11 people evacuated uninjured.

A woman pulled from the wreckage urged rescuers to keep looking for survivors.

''Hurry, go rescue people. They're in there. They're inside,'' said the unidentified woman, who was dressed in street clothes and did not appear to be injured. ''I lived on the ninth floor, but now it's the fourth floor.''

Meanwhile, 50 people were reported injured when a 12-storey apartment building collapsed in the Taipei suburb of Hsinchuang. An estimated 100 others were still trapped in the building, which collapsed onto a neighbouring five-story structure.

Taiwan Television showed collapsed four-story residential buildings in Taichung, but gave no figures for dead or injured. Water poured from ruptured mains and distraught residents squatted with their heads in their hands as rescuers helped apparently unhurt survivors from the building.

Severe damage was reported in the town of Puli near the quake epicenter, but details were sketchy.

An explosion was reported at the town's major business, a rice wine distillery, and scores of buildings suffered damage, the Broadcasting Corporation of China said. No casualty figures were immediately available from Puli, however.

Tuesday's quake was Taiwan's worst since a 7.4 magnitude one hit the island in 1935, killing 3,276 people. Taiwan is hit by dozens of quakes each year, but most are centred in the Pacific Ocean east of the island and they rarely cause damage.

The latest quake hit at about 1.45am local time, while most of Taiwan's 22 million people were sleeping. It knocked out electric services throughout the northern part of the island. State radio said the initial quake was followed by six aftershocks.

After the earthquake, people made their way into the streets from damaged buildings, some wearing only underwear, some in nightclothes. Some appeared dazed, but others quickly recovered from the sudden awakening. A few waved from damaged buildings.

Dirk Kempthorne, the governor of the US state of Idaho who is visiting Taipei on an Asian trade mission, said he was sleeping in a top-floor room in the 25-story Grant Hyatt Regency in Taipei when the earthquake hit.

''We've been through quite an experience,'' Kempthorne said by telephone from the street outside the hotel. ''I think many of us thought we might be done for.''

Kempthorne said the quake began as a gentle swaying, ''and then it increased in intensity until you were virtually thrown from the bed.''

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou announced schools and offices would be closed today. The government said financial markets would also stay shut.

In southwestern Taipei, some people brought candles into the street. Many carried umbrellas to stay dry from in the rain, huddling around battery-operated radios.

Rern-Wei Cheng, a visitor to Taipei from California, said he was watching television with his family when the earthquake struck. ''When I first felt the quake, I thought of a Turkish friend who went back to Turkey to visit his family when the earthquake hit there. ... We were all frightened and we hid under the kitchen table.'' No one in the family was hurt.

The US Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center said the quake prompted tsunami warnings for Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Yap, Guam, and Palau.