Activities commemorating the 921 earthquake last year were launched by the National Science Council (NSC) yesterday.
There will be one-week exhibitions in Taipei and Kaohsiung, a longer exhibition in Taichung, and a three-day international workshop in Taipei attended by scientists -- specializing in the scientific, technological and social aspects of earthquakes -- from all over the world.
At the opening ceremony of the exhibition in Taipei, titled "2000 Science Week -- Learning About Earthquakes" (2000
Guided by students of geology from NTU and National Central University, students from elementary schools and high schools can learn about plate tectonics and the geology of Taiwan.
The 921 or Chi-chi (after the small town in Nantou county nearest its epicenter) Earthquake (
Scientists have confirmed the earthquake was due to movement of the Chelungpu fault (車籠埔斷層), causing vertical displacements in disaster areas, some as high as five meters.
At the exhibition, every visitor is encouraged to take part in exercises designed to teach them how to protect themselves in the event of an earthquake.
Participants, for example, hide themselves inside a model of a house after packing an earthquake kit (
"Pick up important things which you can carry easily, such as whistles, lighters, bottled water and cookies," a guide told children from kindergartens.
Kindergarten teachers told the Taipei Times that children learned from playing games and these could be important lessons for people living in earthquake-prone areas.
In addition to the exhibition, the science council's National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (
The Chi-chi Earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale, has had an enormous impact on scientists and engineers internationally.
NSC Chairman Weng Cheng-I (
The exchange of opinions at yesterday's workshop was initiated by research papers given by Japanese scientists Kojiro Irikura and T. Iwata on simulating the ground motion and rupture process of the Chi-chi quake.
Some Taiwanese seismologists said the debate on which model best explained the quake was taking up a lot of time.
During the remainder of the workshops, today and tomorrow, more than 300 scientists will discuss a range of earthquake-related topics, ranging from hydraulic engineering, to damage data analysis, to recovery following Japan's 1995 Kobe Earthquake.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS