At least five people were killed on Saturday morning when a magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit southern Taiwan, the island nation's disaster response centre said.More than 200 people were rescued from damaged structures, many from a 17-story residential building that collapsed in Tainan city's Yongkang district, officials told CNN. The victims included a 10-day old infant who was killed when the high-rise building collapsed.More than 150 people in Tainan were hospitalised, disaster officials said.The earthquake with a depth of 16.7 km, was centred about 48 km east-southeast of Tainan, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The quake was also felt in the capital Taipei 300 km away from Tainan and several aftershocks were also reported.A total of 121,672 homes and businesses were without power in Tainan.Taiwan's outgoing President, Ma Ying-jeou promised an "all-out effort" to rescue people when he arrived in Tainan which is Taiwan's oldest city with a population of 1.9 million people.Shelters would be set up for those who had lost their homes in the city of two million people, he said.A 7.6 magnitude quake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and often experience tremors.