Fujian building tilted after earthquake

Updated: 2013-03-28 17:11

(chinadaily.com.cn)

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A building in East China's Fujian province tilted after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Taiwan on Wednesday morning, but local experts said that it was safe to live in.

The earthquake, which had its epicenter in Taiwan's Nantou county, left one woman in Nantou dead and injured at least 86 others, the China News Service reported, quoting Taiwan's fire and rescue authority.

No casualties were reported on the mainland, but the 18-storey building in the downtown area of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, was found leaning after the quake.

Lu Weihuang, chief engineer of the Fujian Provincial Institute of Architectural Design and Research, said that the building is less than 60 meters tall, and it's acceptable that buildings of such height lean about 0.3 percent, the Xiamen Daily reported.

A senior engineer surnamed Wei from the Fujian Geological Surveying and Mapping Institute also said after measurements and calculations that the building is safe to live in.

However, the experts' conclusions failed to convince the residents, and many people are afraid to go home, the report added.