Death toll climbs following quake in Taiwan

UPDATE: After a day of searching, Taiwanese officials report at least 100 people remain missing following a powerful earthquake that toppled buildings in the southern city of Tainan. At least 13 people are known to have died, but rescuers have pulled about 340 survivors from the rubble, so far. At least 477 people suffered injuries, with 380 being treated and discharged from local hospitals by Saturday evening.

The biggest building that fell, the 17-story Wei Guan residential building, had 256 registered residents, but with the Chinese Lunar New Year starting on Sunday, official suspect many more family members and friends could have been in the building when the 6.4-magnitude quake struck at about 4 a.m. local time Saturday. The building also housed a care center for newborns and mothers. A 10-day-old baby was among the dead.

The temblor struck about 6 miles underground, according to the U.S. Geological Service, a relatively shallow depth that contributed to the above-ground damage.

The high-rise building “first starting shaking horizontally, then up and down, then a big shake right to left,” said Tainan resident Lin Bao-gui.

UPDATE (9:10 p.m. Feb. 5): Rescuers have so far pulled 221 survivors from the rubble of a collapsed high rise in Tainan, Taiwan. Another three people died. Officials believe 256 people were living in the 17-story Wei Guan residential building when a major earthquake struck the city in the early morning hours.

At least three other buildings collapsed during the quake: a market, a seven-floor building, and a bank. Dozens of other survivors have been pulled from the rubble of those structures.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (7:10 p.m., Feb. 5): A 6.4-magnitude earthquake thrashed the southern tip of Taiwan late Friday afternoon, about 4 a.m. Saturday local time. The sustained trembling toppled at least one high rise building in the city of Tainan. Several hours later, officials reported pulling about 120 survivors from the rubble.

It was not clear how many more people might be trapped under the crumbled concrete. Search and rescue crews continued to comb the city looking for damage and victims.

According to a local news website, at least one other building collapsed in Tainan, and water and gas lines ruptured.

In the capital Taipei, in the island's north, residents felt the quake as a long rolling, but it appeared to have spared the city any major damage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.