Geologists call for government action

"People should be prepared for earthquakes because the whole island [Taiwan] is in an area where the internal energy of the earth accumulates. Compared with older land masses, the island of Taiwan is very unstable," said Yu Guei-kun (余貴坤), an earth sciences professor from National Central University (國立??央?j學).

"We scientists cannot predict individual earthquakes. However, we can inform people living in vulnerable areas about potential disasters and help them to be prepared," said Shih Ruey-Chyuan (石瑞銓), a seismologist from National Chung Cheng University.