§ Tainan Earthquake

At least 18 people were killed and more than 500 were injured Saturday morning when a magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit Taiwan, the official Central News Agency reported.

More than 350 people were rescued from damaged structures, many from a 16-story residential building that collapsed in Tainan, officials told CNN. At least 16 of the dead were from the Weiguan Jinlong building, CNA said.

As of Saturday night, dozens of children were among at least 153 people still unaccounted for in Tainan, CNA reported, citing the local fire department. A cold wave moving into the area added to their sense of urgency.

CNA reported earlier that a 10-day-old girl and a 40-year-old man had been killed in Tainan.

More than 60 people in the city remain hospitalized, disaster officials said.

Seven other buildings in Tainan were damaged.

"This was strong enough to not only be felt here in the [Taiwanese] capital city of Taipei but also in the southern provinces of China," Elise Hu, an NPR correspondent who was in Taipei when the quake hit, said in an interview with CNN. "Taiwan is very used to earthquakes and tremors, but this is far more significant than the island has seen in quite a while."

Pop star Madonna told concertgoers in Taipei that she felt the tremor in her 17th floor hotel room and it was scary, CNA reported. At the Saturday night show she offered her condolences and asked the audience to keep the victims in their thoughts.

More than 1,500 people are involved in rescue efforts, the disaster center said.

A man who was staying in a three-story apartment building in Tainan told Chinese state media CCTV the building was shaking violently when the quake hit before sunrise. His room tilted 45 degrees, and items inside his room spilled all over the floor.

Unable to use the stairs, he managed to escape from the window of the second floor.

Keywords

unaccounted下落不明

urgency. 緊迫性。

hospitalized住院

provinces 省

correspondent通信者

concertgoers參加音樂會

spilled灑

thoughts思念

violently猛烈

condolences慰問

Who: people in Tainan

When: February

Where: Tainan

Why: A big earthquake

What: Many people were injured and died.

How: Rescue victims immediately

§WeekThree 北韓氫爆：North Korea, hydrogen bomb test

(CNN)The U.S. now believes North Korea might have attempted to test components of a hydrogen bomb on January 6, after further review and analysis of the latest intelligence information.

A U.S. official directly familiar with the latest U.S. assessment said there may have been a partial, failed test of some type of components associated with a hydrogen bomb.

The assessment comes after careful examination of the latest intelligence analysis of the test data. But the official emphasized there is no final conclusion.

Immediately following the test earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the initial analysis that have been conducted was "not consistent" with a successful hydrogen bomb test.

The U.S. still does not accept North Korea's claim that it tested a hydrogen bomb, but air sampling conducted after the test has proved inconclusive, the official said. That prompted another look at the seismic data.

That analysis shows the test was conducted more than two times deeper underground than originally assessed -- at a depth consistent with what might be needed for a hydrogen bomb.

However, the size of the seismic event and other intelligence indicates it was not likely a fully functioning device. The official said it's possible the North Koreans believe they conducted a full hydrogen bomb test, but the U.S. believes it was likely only some components, perhaps a detonator, that exploded.

Keyword:

hydrogen bomb氫彈

assessment評定

partial局部

components組件

initial初始

inconclusive尚無定論

sampling採樣

detonator雷管

fully functioning device全功能設備

seismic地震

Who North Korea Government

Where North Korea

Why: North Korea might have attempted to test components of a hydrogen bomb.

How: Not given

When: on January 6

What: hydrogen bomb