Taiwan Church News 3806 Edition Feb 3 ~ 9, 2025 Weekly Topical Southern Taiwan Kept Devastated by Earthquakes Measured Richter 6.4 at its Peak Reported by Dalul In the early morning on January 21st, a Richter 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan. The earthquake epicenter was located at Ta-Pu Township, Chiayi County. Rev Hsiao Ray-chiao, director of the PCT Church and Society Committee (CSC) immediately went to visit the affected areas, including Nan-Hsi Church and Yu-Ching Church of Tainan presbytery on the same day to care for the inflicted victims, deliver first-aid and learn about the earthquake damages. On Jan 24th, organized by the Church and Society Committee of Tainan presbytery, a post-earthquake rehab team, including Rev Lee Ying-hsian, moderator of Tainan presbytery, Rev Lin Wei-lien, secretary of the PCT Church and Society Committee, Rev Hsiao Ray-chiao and many co-workers, promptly went to survey the affected site of quakes and hold an emergency first-aid meeting. According to the statistics of the PCT Church and Society Committee till Jan 25, many buildings of the churches, such as Nan-Hsi, Yu-Ching, Nan-Hua and Guang-Ho, were reported damaged or ripped apart, and much more residence houses of church members, especially in Zhuo-Chen township, were also broken according to related reports. It was very fortunate that no one was injured. Rev Huang Mau-chuan, pastor of Nan-Hsi church, pointed out in an interview on Jan 21st that the earthquake was accompanied by immediate water outages and power blackouts. Very luckily, Rev Huang said, the power supply was restored quickly on the same day. As to the damages of the church buildings, he continued, the collapsed and broken ones included: some light steel frames installed behind the ceilings of the pastor’s residence house, water tanks and pipes. In addition, many buildings’ walls, including the main hall of the chapel, were cracked down and ripped apart obviously. Later, a follow-up visit by Rev Huang to church members also confirmed that many of their buildings was also damaged, but fortunately all church members were safe. “I sincerely ask brothers and sisters to carry on care and pray for us,” Rev Huang said. Rev Tsai Nan-hsin, pastor of Yu-Ching church, said that the structure of the church was not damaged. But, due to a fragile structure of its education hall and the grave impacts inherited from the 2010 Kaohsiung earthquake, many building cracks could be seen up to date. In the meantime, he reported, the chapel’s water tanks, pipes and his residence house had also broken or damaged. After his visit of each church members, he remarked, “the church also carries on to care the victims and exchange the quake inflictions and humanitarian demands through social apps.” He sincerely hoped that brothers and sisters could carry on to care and intercede for the quake-inflicted people and the on-going rehab process. On Jan 27, an article was posted to the facebook website belonging to the PCT CSC, delivering thanksgivings to the elders of the PCT Scout Troop for supporting the quake-inflicted people to set up outdoor tents; to Taiwan Association of Community Advancement for supplying sleeping-bags; to Taiwan Sunshine Bless Association for sending first-aid and resources to serve the needy very efficiently; to the voluntary plumbers and electricians from Tainan presbytery for their prompt rescue to help people repair and rebuild their beloved homes. Translated by Peter Wolfe |