As residents of Taipei, Taiwan, clean up from the devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake that shook the city on Tuesday, many Taiwanese students at Iowa State are recovering from the quake’s effects as well.

More than 1,700 people were killed and thousands more were injured in the quake, the worst since a 7.4 magnitude in 1935, according to The Associated Press.

Ya-Ya Kang, who graduated from ISU in August with a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication, was very worried about her parents, who live in Chia-yi, only an hour’s drive from the earthquake’s epicenter.

“I was able to talk with my parents on the day that the earthquake happened,” Kang said. “They were frightened, but they were OK.”

Kang’s brother and sister, who live in Taipei, were not as lucky.

Her sister, brother-in-law and their new baby “went out to a shelter and stayed one night,” Kang said.

“The situation in my brother’s place is worse — there was no electricity or water,” she said.

Kang had planned to go back to Taiwan this week but had to delay her plans because of the quake’s repercussions.

Chung-Min Liu, graduate student in industrial engineering and member of the Taiwanese Student Association, said he is very thankful that his family does not live near the epicenter.

“It was very terrible,” Liu said. “I know people very near the epicenter — their house almost collapsed.”

Ted Chu, senior in aerospace engineering, also was relieved that his family, living far from the epicenter, was not affected.

Chu said TSA, in conjunction with the Story County Chapter of the American Red Cross, is collecting donations for the earthquake relief effort.

“There are many different ways to help those people, either through TSA or the Red Cross,” Chu said. “More donations to help the injured are important.”