Taiwan Quake Damage Extensive;
One Library Worker Reported Dead
Just one library worker was reported among the 2,295 people killed in the September 21 earthquake that rocked central Taiwan. He died when his home was destroyed. Ling Hwey Jeng, president of the Chinese American Library Association, told American Libraries in mid-October that although no other library workers had been reported killed, at least two were still unaccounted for.
Jeng reported that a damage assessment issued by the National Taichung Library said that of 52 public libraries in six counties near the quake epicenter, nine were either completely destroyed or their buildings declared unsafe and unusable. Another eight suffered significant structural damage, and 18 suffered slight damage, mostly in equipment and shelving.
The report said the Taichung library itself endured the partial collapse of its seventh floor and suffered numerous cracks in walls and stairways; its air conditioning and water systems were destroyed.
Posted October 11, 1999.
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