'I thought of buying tickets and flying back to Singapore': Yvonne Lim spooked when strong earthquake rocks Taiwan home

Singaporean actress Yvonne Lim has been living in Taiwan for many years and has settled down comfortably. But when a natural disaster struck, she immediately thought of Singapore.

On Thursday (Dec 10), Taiwan was hit by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake; fortunately, there were no injuries. Despite escaping unscathed, 43-year Yvonne was shaken as she told Shin Min Daily News on Dec 11 that it was the worst earthquake she's experienced in Taiwan.

The tremors occurred shortly after Yvonne put her kids — six-year-old AJ and four-year-old Alexa — to bed and she was about to take a shower.

She recalled: "I didn't expect the earthquake to hit just after I stepped into the shower. The tremors were really intense so I rushed into my daughter's room and carried her downstairs. My husband Alex was carrying my son and our family of four hid under the dining table."

The family live in a two-storey apartment in a high-rise building. 

Yvonne also said: "It felt like the whole building was shaking at that time and even though it wasn't long, my heart was racing and I was panicking. It's not the first time I've experienced an earthquake, but I was really shocked."

She added: "I really thought of buying plane tickets and flying back to Singapore immediately!"

After the earthquake passed, Yvonne and her husband put their children to bed again but she didn't sleep a wink as she worried about a second or even a third wave. There was an aftershock at 2am, but as it wasn't that intense, Yvonne didn't wake her family up.

She also told the Chinese daily that she has an emergency bag packed and ready to go should the need arise.

However, they didn't evacuate this time because they live more than 20 floors up and Yvonne wasn't sure if they would make it since they can't take an elevator during an earthquake.

"A neighbour who lives on the fourth floor texted to check in on us. If someone on the fourth floor can feel the intensity of the tremors, how are we going to escape if we're living on the higher floors? Even if we want to escape, it might be too late. Regardless, we must stick together as a family," she said.

ALSO READ: Actress Yvonne Lim says she and husband take extra precautions before touching their kids

bryanlim@asiaone.com