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Yvonne Lim hid under her dining table during 'terrifying' Taiwan earthquake
Posted on 04 April 2024 | 1,758 views | 9 comments
Lim Ruey Yan and Joanne Soh
The Straits Times
April 3, 2024
Actress Yvonne Lim has experienced many earthquakes and aftershocks during her nine years residing in Taiwan.
But never had she felt so much fear as when a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit the city of Hualien on the morning of April 3.
“This quake was really terrifying. I was so scared. I was alone at home and I didn’t know what to do,” the 47-year-old Singaporean told The Straits Times over the phone.
“I was awoken up by the earthquake and ran out of my room screaming for my husband and children, but they had already left for school.”
She has been living in Taipei since she married Taiwanese businessman Alex Tien in 2014. They have two children – Alex Junior, nine, and Alexa, seven.
“We live on the 26th floor, so there was no way I could run down quickly. I hid under the dining table and waited for the tremors to stop,” said Lim, adding that she had never experienced such an intense earthquake before.
“The intensity just grew and the whole house was shaking so badly. I never had so much fear,” she said.
She added that doors were banging and drawers fell out of the cupboards. “It was like a scene from (the 1973 horror movie) The Exorcist,” she added.
“Thankfully, my Star Awards trophies remained on the shelf,” she added with a laugh.
When ST spoke to Lim in the late afternoon of April 3, she was on her way back home from grocery shopping, preparing for more aftershocks to come.
She is thankful her family was safe. “The kids were evacuated from the school and they all know the drill. Teachers also sent photos to parents to calm us down,” said Lim.
This was the strongest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years, killing at least nine, injuring over 800 and triggering tsunami warnings for the territory, southern Japan and the Philippines.
It was also the first time Singaporean singer-actress Kelly Poon felt such a big earthquake.
The 40-year-old, who is based in Taiwan and married to Taiwanese music producer-songwriter Roger Yo, shared on Instagram Stories a photo of her husband and baby boy Keane sleeping on the bed.
“What a big earthquake, is everyone ok?” Poon wrote.
“The aftershocks were quite strong too,” she added. “Please be safe, everyone.”
Local singer-actor Huang Jinglun, who has been based in Taiwan for several years, was also shocked by the magnitude of the earthquake.
“I have been in Taiwan for so long, but I felt for the first time that the magnitude of this earthquake might cause the building to collapse,” the 40-year-old wrote in Chinese on social media.
“I grabbed my child quickly and ran to the top floor (of my apartment). How is everyone?”
Huang, who first found fame in 2008 when he took part in Taiwanese reality singing competition One Million Star, shared on social media a photo of himself with his three-year-old son.
Meanwhile, home-grown actor Mark Lee posted a photo of himself near the Taipei 101 skyscraper on April 1.
His wife Catherine Ng shared on Instagram Stories after the earthquake that she was scared stiff. She thanked everyone for their concern and wrote: “We are fine.”
Actresses Hong Huifang and Kate Pang, as well as singer Tanya Chua also took to social media to assure fans that they are fine.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
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