Taiwan quake toll rises to 46

The toll from the earthquake that struck Taiwan's Kaohsiung city has climbed to 46.

The collapse of the Wei Guan building, the most seriously damaged, accounted for 44 deaths, Xinhau quoted an official as saying on Wednesday.

The State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the Red Cross Society of China as well as the China Earthquake Administration are in contact with the island.

The mainland has offered medical assistance, the Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement.

Mainland enterprises, NGOs and individuals have donated 13 million new Taiwan dollars ($392,000) to the island following Tuesday's disaster.

The quake, which the China Earthquake Administration said had a magnitude of 6.7, hit Kaohsiung city at 3.57 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Saturday, just two days ahead of the Lunar New Year. Local monitoring authorities put the scale of the quake at 6.4.