RECOVERY EFFORTS IN TAIWAN

September 22, 1999
		The death count from Monday's earthquake in Taiwan climbed past 2,000 as rescue workers continued to uncover thousands more trapped in the rubble. -- Posted 1:30 PM ET

Online NewsHour Special Report: Earthquake in Turkey Aug. 24, 1999: The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey discusses the relief effort. Aug. 23, 1999: Public health officials discuss the danger of disease Aug. 20, 1999: Aftershocks rock Turkey Aug. 20, 1999: The death toll surpasses 10,000 Aug. 19, 1999: A search for survivors in Turkey Aug. 18, 1999: A discussion about the state of destruction in Turkey Aug. 17, 1999: Background reports on the earthquake in Turkey. Aug. 4, 1999: A discussion on the tense relations between China and Taiwan. July 23, 1999: A background report on China-Taiwan tensions. July 23, 1999: A Newsmaker interview with Tung Chee-Hwa. The Online NewsHour's coverage of Asia.     U.S. Embassy in China Chinese consulate in New York United States Geological Survey International Federation of the Red Cross	Aftershocks have complicated rescue workers' efforts after the original earthquake left more than four thousand people injured and tens of thousands homeless in central Taiwan. More than 2,000 subsequent aftershocks, reaching magnitudes as high as 6.8, 6.1 and 6.0, have resulted in mudslides and forced evacuations after a dam was found to have a crack in it. As rescue workers from around the globe arrived and started work, they have found more dead bodies than live people under the toppled apartment buildings and homes. "What we need most is expertise in the actual rescue and recovery work of those people who have had experience in handling earthquake of such a magnitude as happened in Japan a few years back," Stephen Chen, Taiwan's representative in the U.S., said last night on the NewsHour. Chen also said the country is not in need of supplies like food and clothing. Earthquake specialists from 14 different countries, including the United States, have already arrived, totalling around 500 people, according to the Central News Agency. Among international responses, Chinese President Jiang Zemin extended condolences and offered aid to quake victims, even though relations between China and Taiwan remain tense. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province. In addition, China's Red Cross said it would provide $100,000 in disaster aid and $60,000 in relief supplies to the island. "We considered that as a humanitarian aid and we will accept that because we have done that before in much higher quantities in the relief of natural disasters in the past," Chen said. Chen said there are no reports of American deaths from the earthquake. Rescue workers from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Miami-Dade, Florida, however, set to work upon arrival today and rescued a man in the town of Touliu after he was trapped under an apartment building for 48 hours.
	Along the border
	Taiwanese officials originally said Tuesday's quake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale, but U.S. Geological Survey officials are now saying the reading was 7.6, equal to the earthquake in Turkey last month that killed more than 15,000 people. The island of Taiwan is particularly susceptable to earthquakes because of it's location at the boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate, and was originaly formed as a result of their movement. "There is this compression shun between these two plates. And it's resulted in a mountain range along the island of Taiwan called the Central Mountains," Robert Wesson of the U.S. Geological Survey explained on the NewsHour last night. Tuesday's earthquake was similar to the one last month in Turkey in that it was shallow and thus created more movement on the surface. "This earthquake -- because it's shallow and because it's to the West side of the island -- is closer to the populated area and so the shaking from this earthquake was quite strong," Wesson said.