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Taiwan demolishes quake-hit buildings as rescue efforts intensify
 by Staff Writers
 Hualien, Taiwan (AFP) Feb 9, 2018

Hero labrador sniffs out survivor in Taiwan quake wreckage
Hualien, Taiwan (AFP) Feb 9, 2018 - A rookie golden labrador on his first ever mission has won praise for helping Taiwanese search and rescue workers find two people trapped in a severely damaged building following a deadly earthquake.

Four-year-old Tie Hsiung, whose name translates to "Iron Hero", braved dangerous aftershocks on his first field test to search for survivors after a 6.4-magnitude quake struck the popular eastern tourist city of Hualien on Tuesday, killing 10 people.

Thanks to the determined dog, one person trapped for 15 hours was finally located relatively unscathed and pulled from the wreckage of the precariously leaning Marshal Hotel.

"The terrain was quite dangerous with glass and nails," 28-year-old trainer Li Chun-sheng told AFP, beaming with pride.

"I thought he may be too afraid, but he was able to overcome this to go into the rubble pile, so I think he did great."

The other person pulled from the rubble succumbed to their injuries.

As soon as the quake struck, Tie Hsiung flew out with a rescue team from the western city of Taichung alongside his training companion, fellow labrador Tuei Tuei ("Leg-Leg"), who is also four years old.

It was a mission the canines had trained extensively for -- but until now they had never been truly tested.

Tuei Tuei's trainer Lin You-zhun applauded his own black labrador who was sent to search the hotel's upper floors.

"Usually we choose where and when we train, and it is always in a safe area. But during a natural disaster, we never know when there will be aftershocks," said Lin, also 28.

Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung gave a special mention to the canine pair, praising them for "achieving a great merit" while netizens quickly dubbed the duo the "pride of Taichung" as photos of the dogs went viral.

Li said Tie Hsiung had to be taken to the vet Thursday morning as he suffered inflammation in his ear, which may have been due to allergies, the weather, or stress.

- 'Too lively' to be drug dogs -

The pair were picked from a customs training centre where they failed to make the cut as drug detection dogs -- which according to Lin was because they were "too lively."

But that asset was exactly what authorities were looking for in earthquake rescue dogs.

"When choosing a dog, we want one to be playful and like to eat so we can incentivise them to work. They also have to be bold, so not to be afraid of any sound or machinery," said Li.

Rescue dog teams were not fully established in Taiwan until about seven years ago, according to Chou Tsung-chi, a senior trainer with the National Fire Agency.

He recalled how teams flew in from other countries to assist Taiwan in the aftermath of a massive earthquake in 1999 that killed around 2,400 people.

"Everyone had search dogs, but we didn't," said Chou, adding that Taiwan today has trained up around 50.

"Dogs have an incredibly strong olfactory ability," he told AFP.

"No matter how sensitive or skilled a person is, they are no match for dogs."

Taiwan began demolishing three dangerously damaged buildings Friday as rescue workers combed the rubble of a hotel in a last-ditch effort to find seven people still missing after a deadly earthquake.

At least 10 people were killed when the 6.4-magnitude quake hit the eastern tourist city of Hualien Tuesday. A family of five Chinese mainland nationals and a Canadian-Chinese couple remain missing.

They are all "believed to be trapped in the second floor of Yun Tsui building," Hualien mayor Fu Kun-chi said on local television Friday, warning that the chances of finding people alive were now slim.

"Rescuers will seize the 'golden 72 hours of rescue time' to make an all-out effort for rescue," he added.

The powerful tremor left a handful of buildings badly damaged -- some tilting at precarious angles -- as well as roads torn up.

Three of the partially collapsed buildings have been cleared of people and are now being demolished "in order to maintain safety for the public," the mayor said, adding that authorities are probing possible construction irregularities.

The major focus for emergency responders remains another damaged building, the Yun Tsui apartment block, which housed the Beauty Stay Hotel on its lower floors. Seven of the dead perished in that building and the remaining missing were hotel guests there.

The lower floors of the 12-storey tower pancaked, leaving the structure leaning at a fifty-degree angle and sparking fears of an imminent collapse.

National Fire Agency search and rescue team leader Liang Kuo-wei told AFP it had taken 12 hours to break through to the second-floor hotel room where the Canadian couple were staying.

They had found their suitcase and "running shoes, sunglasses, and thermos," he said, adding that they had earlier detected "signs of life" but had been unable to locate the couple and were now encountering smells of decay.

The Chinese family of five were all sharing a room on the second floor.

The daughter of victim Chiang Chen-chang, who was employed at the Beauty Stay Hotel, said she saw her father's name on the missing persons list during her shift working at the emergency operation centre.

"I had to keep composed so I could carry on my work. It was only when I was alone that the emotions came," Hsu Pao-yu said as she struggled to hold back tears.

Hualien is one of Taiwan's most popular tourist destinations as it lies on the picturesque east coast rail line and near the popular Taroko Gorge.

The Hualien quake came exactly two years to the day after a similar sized tremor struck the western city of Tainan, killing 117 people -- most in a single apartment block which collapsed.

Five people were later found guilty over the disaster, including the developer and two architects, for building an inadequate structure.

The island's worst tremor in recent decades was a 7.6-magnitude quake in September 1999 that killed around 2,400 people.

That quake ushered in stricter building codes but many of Taiwan's older buildings remain perilously vulnerable to even moderate quakes.


Related Links
 Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
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SHAKE AND BLOW
Rescuers brave aftershocks as Taiwan quake toll rises to nine
 Hualien, Taiwan (AFP) Feb 8, 2018
 Taiwanese rescuers braved powerful aftershocks to search for survivors in a dangerously leaning apartment block that was partially toppled by a quake, locating two more bodies early Thursday to bring the death toll to nine as dozens remain missing. A 6.4-magnitude quake hit the popular eastern tourist city of Hualien late Tuesday, leaving a handful of buildings badly damaged - some of them leaning at terrifying angles - as well as roads torn up and hundreds sheltering in local schools and a stadiu ... read more
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