Rescuers are using cranes to get to those trapped in what's left of Hwalien's Marshal Hotel.

When the earthquake struck just before midnight local time, the ground floor caved in, leaving the entire building slanting on its side.

There are two people left inside.

One is my older brother and another is his colleague.

The rescuers are trying to dig further down to look for my brother.

That's the situation for now.

Taiwan's president Tsai Ying Wen arrived in Hwalien on Wednesday morning.

Earlier on social media she said teams from around the island will be helping with the search for survivors.

Taiwan's fire agency reports that five more buildings including a hospital were also damaged as were several roads leading to the city.

This earthquake followed another one over the weekend off the coast of Hwalien.

This earthquake today in the sequence for last few days has been right in one of the hot spots on the northeast coast of Taiwan.

So it's not a surprise.

Uh it's in an area where aftershocks are inevitable you know.

The question is how many big aftershocks will there be.

and our usual odds are one in ten or one in twenty chance of a bigger earthquake.

so they need to be prepared and at least for a few days for more action.

A city lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, known for regular seismic activity from Alaska to Southeast Asia.

Joao da Silva. Al Jazeera.