Latest Taiwan earthquake left Singapore actress Yvonne Lim shaken: 'I was thinking that it might be the end for me'
The actress previously shared that the earthquakes in Taiwan were one of two reasons she is moving back to Singapore.
Having been in Taipei for nine years with her family, local actress Yvonne Lim has experienced earthquakes and even prepared survival bags. The latest one, though, which occurred on Wednesday (3 April) morning and registered a magnitude of 7.2, had her feeling like it was “a scene from the movies”.
She told CNA’s Singapore Tonight on the same day that she was just about to take a nap - after settling the morning chores for her kids - when the quake hit. She realised it was “something serious” when the intensity of the quake increased.
Lim, 47, said “I ran downstairs to my living room. I forgot my handphone. I just forgot everything. It was so shaky, and you could even barely walk in a straight line. It was like a scene from the movies that we watched.
“And you couldn’t think properly. It was very, very scary. The tremors are very, very bad. I’ve stayed in Taipei for almost nine years and this is the first time I really felt fear, and I was thinking that it might be the end for me.”
It was so bad that after checking in on her husband and kids, Lim even left “last words” on her Instagram before “anything worse comes along”.
The earthquake is the island’s strongest in 25 years, and on Thursday, the number of injured climbed past 1,000 while the death toll rose to 10.
Lim shared that she now lives in new anti-earthquake building, and the building still remains strong after the quake and the residents were safe.
Though “water was splashing out from the stove” and things were falling down, her home didn’t sustain major damage.
Heading back to Singapore because of earthquakes
When talking about her move back to Singapore in November 2023, the actress told Shin Min that the earthquakes were one of the two reasons why she is returning home.
She said, “Taiwan frequently has earthquakes, it happens a few times a year. Even though it's for a few short minutes, and sometimes not even a minute, but time feels very slow when it's happening.
“The scariest was when there was an earthquake for three consecutive days, so that's why we prepared a survival bag in the house, with earthquake helmets, space blankets, and other things.”
In October 2021, when a series of earthquakes struck the Yilan and Hualien counties of Taiwan, Lim was caught in the impact too.
At that time, the quake was reported to be the strongest one to hit the region in 30 years.
Lim told Shin Min back then, “I really thought of buying plane tickets and flying back to Singapore immediately!”
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