A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Taiwan just before midnight Tuesday local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake was centered in the East China Sea about 21 kilometers north-northeast of Hualien City

Taiwan just finished cleaning up the last mag 6.4 quake:

At 03:57 local time on 6 February 2016 (19:57 5 February UTC), an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.4 struck 28 km (17 mi) northeast of Pingtung City in southern Taiwan, in the Meinong District of Kaohsiung.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=403211

Too many investors in the hotel watching their stocks roll over...

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

I read one article citing liquefaction for the extreme tilting and overturning of some buildings. I hope the folks involved with Millenium Tower in SanFran are taking notice.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

The Marshall Hotel is said to have collapsed through the basement, though they have rescued someone who was trapped in the basement. The building appears to have had some soft story retrofit work done but obviously not nearly enough.
Here is an older photo from Trip Advisor:


The retrofitted version: Link

Quake damage: Link

Link

Its like groundhog day with the earthquakes in Taiwan. It is obvious that Taiwan is susceptible to earthquakes and soil liquefaction.

Is the government and building codes at fault or are the contractors corrupt?

On a BBC report, it was mentioned that the buildings involved are typically about 30 years old. Newer buildings presumably fare better, but I've not confirmed this assumption.