HUALIEN. Taiwan - Aftershocks hampered rescue efforts on Thursday as emergency personnel combed through collapsed buildings in search of survivors after a powerful earthquake killed at least nine people near Taiwan's popular tourist city of Hualien.
Nervous residents endured a series of aftershocks, including a 5.7 quake late on Wednesday and smaller tremors early on Thursday.
The coastal city of Hualien was hit by a magnitude 6.4 quake just before midnight (1600 GMT) on Tuesday that killed nine people and injured 265. Four buildings collapsed, officials said, and about 62 people were still missing.
It was initially feared as many as 150 people may have been missing in the rubble. The death toll had been put at seven overnight.
Many of the missing were believed to be trapped in a 12-story residential building that was tilting at a 45-degree angle. Tenants and their furniture were flung across their apartments in the damaged building.