By WILLIAM FOREMAN Associated Press Writer
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwan's strongest quake in decades struck before dawn Tuesday, wrecking a 12-story hotel in Taipei and shaking millions out of their beds. A government report said at least 60 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 and was centered 90 miles south-southwest of Taipei, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center said. The USGS issued warnings of possible tsunamis, or huge waves that sometimes follow earthquakes.
The temblor was about the same strength as the devastating one that struck Turkey Aug. 17, killing more than 15,000 people.
In Taipei, the island nation's capital, the quake wrecked the 78-room Sungshan Hotel in Taipei, collapsing the bottom stories and setting the badly damaged top listing to one side.
Fire crews turned hoses on the collapsed hotel as smoke poured from fires raging in several destroyed rooms. Sixty people were still feared trapped in the building, with 49 people already evacuated and sent to hospital and another 11 people evacuated uninjured.
A woman pulled from the wreckage urged rescuers to look for more injured.
``Hurry, go rescue people. They're in there. They're inside,'' said the unidentified woman, who was dressed in street clothes and did not appear to be injured.
``I lived on the ninth floor, but now it's the fourth floor,'' the woman said.
Taiwan Television showed collapsed four-story residential buildings in the central city of Taichung, but gave no figures for dead or injured. Water poured from ruptured mains and distraught residents squatted with their heads in their hands as rescuers helped apparently unhurt survivors from the building.
Severe damage was reported in the town of Puli near the quake epicenter, but details were sketchy. An explosion was reported at the town's major business, a rice wine distillery, and scores of buildings had suffered damage, the Broadcasting Corporation of China said. No casualty figures were immediately available.
The Interior Ministry's disaster management center reported 60 dead and 355 injured islandwide. Another 277 people were reported trapped under the rubble.
Monday's quake was Taiwan's worst since a 7.4 magnitude temblor hit the island in 1935, killing 3,276 people. Taiwan is hit by dozens of quakes each year, but most strike in the Pacific Ocean east of the island and rarely cause damage.
The quake hit at about 1:45 a.m., while most of Taiwan's 22 million people were sleeping. It knocked out electric service throughout the northern part of the island. State radio said the initial quake was followed by six aftershocks.
After the temblor, people made their way into the streets from damaged buildings, some wearing only underwear, some in nightclothes. Some appeared dazed, but others quickly recovered from the sudden awakening. A few waved from damaged buildings.
Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who is visiting Taipei as part of a two-week Asian trade mission, said he was sleeping in a top-floor room in the 25-story Grant Hyatt Regency in Taipei when the earthquake hit.
``We've been through quite an experience,'' Kempthorne said by telephone later from the street outside the hotel. ``I think many of us thought we might be done for.''
Kempthorne said the quake began as a gentle swaying, ``and then it increased in intensity until you were virtually thrown from the bed.''
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou announced schools and offices would be closed Tuesday.
In the southwestern Chiang Kai-shek district, some people brought candles into the street. Many carried umbrellas to stay out of the rain, huddling around battery-operated radios.
Rern-Wei Cheng, a visitor to Taipei from California, said he was watching television with his family when the earthquake struck.
``When I first felt the quake, I thought of a Turkish friend who went back to Turkey to visit his family when the earthquake hit there. ... We were all frightened and we hid under the kitchen table.'' No one in the family was hurt.
The USGS said the quake prompted tsunami warnings for Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Yap, Guam, and Palau.
AP-NY-09-20-99 1849EDT