MINNESOTA, USA — As the dust from Taiwan's earthquake settles, so do the nerves.
"I was on the phone with my mother yesterday evening when it happened," said Anson Wu, the president for the Taiwanese Student Society at the University of Minnesota.
He was talking with his family in Taiwan when the earthquake that injured hundreds struck. His family was unharmed, but he said his sister is still shaken as she cleans up fallen books and broken glass from the floor.
The earthquake in Taiwan injured hundreds and at least nine people have been confirmed to have died.
He says he’s counting his blessings, because his family was not close to the epicenter. He's turning his attention to the Taiwanese community in Minnesota.
Many of his board members also had family in Taiwan.
"William and I were watching the Timberwolves and my family's group chat kept texting," said Nathan Lee, graphic designer with TSS. "They said there was a huge earthquake happening."
"All of the public transportation was shut down," said William Cheng, the events coordinator with TSS.
Luckily, their family's were alright, along with TSS intern Ryan Cheng's loved ones.
"I called my parents to make sure they were doing alright," he said.
Jason McGrath is the co-director of the U's Chinese Flagship program. In the last month, he returned from a trip visiting UMN students studying in Taiwan.
"I am on a group chat with the students in that program and last night we got the message all of the students are accounted for and are okay," said McGrath. "I am very relieved. This is the biggest earthquake to happen in awhile."
Taiwanese American Association of Minnesota president Kuang-Sheng Cheng's daughter is in Taiwan.
"She was terrified while everything was shaking," he said, but was relieved when he found his daughter was not among the hundreds injured.
His group, along with others, are in the process of looking into ways they can help, because not every family in Taiwan were as lucky as theirs'.
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