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Reported by Carol Song
World Vision Taiwan

Delaying rescue work, powerful aftershocks continued to shake Taiwan following the recent deadly earthquake. Rescue efforts went into the second day, still focused on the two worst-affected areas of Taichung, Nantou Counties and Taipei.s Rescue teams from a number of countries have arrived on the island, some of the teams accompanied by sniffer dogs for onsite investigation. There are a total of 619 personnel from 15 nations aiding the rescue efforts, many of them with experience from the recent Turkey quake. As of this writing, 2,107 people are confirmed dead, 7,629 were injured and 1,967 are trapped, while 210 are still listed as missing.

In Puli at Nantou County, families camped outside their broken and destroyed homes have to cope not only with the fear, shock and trauma from the earthquake, but also with the continuous powerful aftershocks. Most of them have set up camp in open-air spaces, scattered throughout the town, in parks and schools. There is still no telephone, no electricity and no water in Nantou and Taichung. The dead are laid on the street due to a lack of space in local morgues. As dead bodies begin to decay, health and sanitation of the survivors has been threatened.

At Taichung veteran’s hospital, ambulances stream in, bringing injured people lifted by helicopter from Puli. A 32-year–old woman was trapped for an hour before she was rescued, and she later had to wait for 10 hours before she was taken to a hospital.

Aid has come too slowly, said Chung Lin–tong, a farmer who lives in Niomen outside of Puli. Chung, along with his son, came to Puli to get milk powder for his newborn eight-month-old child. He and his family are now living in their car because his house was destroyed by the quake. When the earthquake hit, Chung said, he had only one thought--“save my family and get out of the house.”

Government spokesman Chen Chien-jen said the government now has three immediate goals—an urgent need to handle the bodies of the victims, shelter and tents for survivors who lost their homes, and for roads to be cleared of debris. The government has also announced a relief budget of US$8.6 million in immediate aid for Nantou, and another US$4.3 million for Taichung County. The whole country is mobilized for relief action. Government authorities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as World Vision, TV stations, large companies and the public are all joining in the relief operation. They not only offer financial support, but also donate food, water, blankets and clothes to the quake victims. Tim Shao, Executive Director of World Vision Taiwan, has cut short his vacation in Australia and arrived in Taiwan on September 22. He quickly assumed management of the relief operation and along with two journalists and two World Vision staff travelled into the affected districts. He said, "Although transportation and communication is difficult, World Vision Taiwan will still do our best to help the victims who are suffering pain mentally and physically.” He is especially grateful for the prayer and financial support from World Vision donors throughout the world.

World Vision Taiwan is poised to implement Phase I, the immediate response, with a focus on distributing food, water, sleeping bags and makeshift tents to 12 relief centers in Puli, Fengyuan, Tungshi, Yunlin, Chiayi, Chunghua, Sungshan and Taipei. Two Relief Centers in Puli and Tungshi have been set up to accommodate the victims and distribute relief resources. As the death toll continues to mount, Shao has decided to increase the earthquake relief and rehabilitation project from a total of US$2 million to US$5 million.

Taiwanese 30 Hour Famine celebrity Sylvia Chang decided to donate the preliminary income of her new movie which was postponed from September 21 to a later date due to the unexpected earthquake. Chang will come to Taiwan to show her care for the victims this weekend. Celebrity of World Vision Japan, famous singer Judy Wong will also come to Taiwan to raise awareness of the urgent needs of the earthquake victims in Taiwan.