According to Taiwan's official Central News Agency, the Tainan District Prosecutors Office charged three suspects with negligence resulting in death. Authorities suspect that careless construction contributed to the disaster, as the apartment complex in Tainan was the only major building to be destroyed in the quake.
Photographs from the aftermath show that cans and foam had been used to fill parts of the concrete framework of the building, which was constructed in 1989.
Of the fatalities, 39 were found in the residential building, while the other two were found in the nearby Gueiren District. More than 100 people are believed to be still trapped in the debris, while at least 210 people have been successfully rescued from the building.
According to the Tainan fire department, 406 of the 497 people who sustained injuries had been released from hospital as of noon Tuesday.
Due to strict construction standards in Taiwan, an island frequently struck by tremors, only a few buildings sustained damage.
Most earthquakes in Taiwan are relatively minor and cause little or no damage. However, a magnitude 7.6 quake in central Taiwan killed more than 2,300 people in 1999, prompting an overhaul of existing building codes.
