Taiwan offers help with earthquake rescue efforts in Philippines

Taiwan is offering to help with rescue efforts after a massive earthquake struck the northern Philippines on Wednesday (July 27).

At 8:43 a.m. that morning, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 10 km in the province of Abra on the northern island of Luzon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. At a press conference that day, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos, said that four were killed, 60 injured, 173 buildings damaged, and 58 landslides reported.

When Foreign Minister Joseph Wu saw reports of the earthquake, he immediately instructed Wallace Chow (周民淦), head of the ministry’s Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, to contact Manila Economic and Cultural Office Deputy Resident Representative Teodoro Luis B. Javelosa Jr., according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) press release.

During the phone call, Chow expressed his heartfelt sympathies on behalf of the Taiwanese government and people. Chow stated that a special search and rescue team of Taiwan’s National Fire Agency have completed preparations to be dispatched to the Philippines.

He said that if the Philippines needs help with earthquake search and rescue efforts, Taiwan is willing to provide assistance. Teodoro responded by thanking the Taiwanese government for their sympathy and concern and said that his country will request assistance if necessary.

In addition, Taiwan’s representative to the Philippines, Michael Hsu, expressed his sympathies on behalf of the Taiwan government to Silvestre Bello III, the new MECO chairman and representative to Taiwan, and expressed the nation’s willingness to provide rescue assistance.

According to Taiwan’s representative office in the Philippines, local Taiwanese businessmen and Taiwanese citizens in the area affected by the quake are safe. The representative office in the Philippines and MOFA pledged to closely monitor developments with the disaster and maintain contact with Philippine government agencies to provide necessary assistance in a timely manner.

Agencies