The Eastern Taiwan Earthquake Research Center (E-TEC), a base for collecting real-time seismic data to provide earthquake warnings, was established yesterday at National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) in Hualien.
The E-TEC is a research facility that coordinates seismological data collected by the Central Weather Bureau, National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Central Geological Survey and academic institutes.
The E-TEC is comprised of the nation’s first earthquake precursors observatory, an early-warning facility and a disaster prevention education center.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
National Science Council Deputy Minister Mou Chung-yuan (牟中原) said that previous seismic research mostly analyzed data collected after earthquakes occurred, but hopefully, E-TEC’s precursors observation subdivision can help researchers forecast earthquakes using information from seismological events as they occur.
Earthquake precursors are any abnormal phenomena that can signal the coming of an earthquake and its expected severity.
E-TEC director Chang Wen-yen (張文彥), an associate professor at the university’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, said that Hualien is an ideal location for the center because the nation’s position atop the junction where the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates meet gives eastern Taiwan the highest frequency of earthquakes in the country.
A high number of tremors will maximize the amount and value of the data collected at the E-TEC, Chang said.
Ma Kuo-fong (馬國鳳), a professor at National Central University’s Department of Earth Sciences, said that Hualien was an ideal spot for the E-TEC since the ability to detect different precursors varies according to the location of the monitoring stations, so precursors may be undetectable in areas that are far from the seismic activity.
The E-TEC is equipped with stations to monitor a wide array of factors used by seismologists to detect quake precursors, including seismo-ionosphere variations, changes in geochemical gas, electromagnetic field readings and gamma-radiation levels.
Chang said that E-TEC researchers hope that the range of monitoring equipment will enable them to predict where and when the next big earthquake will strike Taiwan, as well as determine which precursors are the most accurate to develop reliable earthquake prediction models.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS