'If we can come through, so can you, ' the survivors of the powerful earthquake that tore through central Taiwan Sept. 21, 1999 told victims of the Typhoon Morakot-triggered flooding last month. The survivors were members of six families that survived the earthquake, who were invited to attend a tea party held Saturday by the non-profit Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF) in Taichung City, central Taiwan, to mark the 10th anniversary of the 921 earthquake. The 7.3-magnitude earthquake killed over 2,400 people and caused NT$300 billion (US$9.2 billion)-worth of damage. The earthquake survivors wanted to share with the flood victims the strength that helped them recover from the pain of losing family members and having to rebuild their homes, TFCF Chairman Lin Po-jung said at the gathering. Lee Chien-teh said he was a high school sophomore when the earth rocked and added that he could never forget the pain he felt when he dug out his mother's remains from the debris with his own hands. He and his younger brother, Lee Chun-wei, were the only survivors in his family. Now he is a special education teacher and his brother is a professional soldier who took part in rescue missions in the aftermath of the Morakot flooding, the worst in 50 years. Meanwhile, Hung Chiao-o from Puli in Nantou County, one of the worst-hit areas by the earthquake, recounted that her home was completely destroyed by the quake and that she had to live in a converted shipping container in the aftermath of the disaster. Her husband later died in a traffic accident, leaving two children behind, she went on, recalling that the family was at that time in dire financial straits. Hung said she made it through the darkest days in her life with aid from society. Now, she pledged, she will 'help other people in the same way that she was helped.' Typhoon Morakot swept through Taiwan Aug. 7-9, triggering massive flooding and landslides that had claimed 619 lives, with 76 still unaccounted for, according to statistics released by the National Fire Agency Sept. 8. 