Sunday's powerful earthquake sent a wave of panic through the Taipei basin, even though the temblor's epicenter was off the coast of Hualien. It triggered memories of the 921 earthquake and its aftershocks. There have been more than 300 aftershocks from Sunday's temblor so far and the Central Weather Bureau has warned that another tremor measuring at least 5 on the Richter scale is likely within the next two weeks.
Most people know that a big quake will be followed by aftershocks, but many believe that aftershocks are weaker than the initial quakes. This is not necessarily true. In 1999, most of the casualties in the Luku, Mingchien and Chushan areas of Nantou County were caused not by the 921 quake itself, but by an aftershock that came five days later and measured 6.7 on the Richter scale. Most of the casualties were due to the destruction of buildings that had been damaged or weakened on Sept. 21.
Sunday's quake caused a building on Chengte Rd in Taipei to tilt dramatically. Many other buildings suffered exterior damage. It is imperative that structural damage checks on all buildings should be carried out as soon as possible. The steel structure of the Taipei Financial Center, now under construction, is supposed to be quake-resistant -- but only after completion. Although the building's investors yesterday vowed to push ahead with construction, work should be halted until a thorough investigation of the structure can be completed.
Police are still investigating the fall of two cranes from the center's steel structure during Sunday's quake. Cranes are temporary installations and their safety standards differ from those for permanent fixtures. Whether there has been any lapse in the quake-resistance and standards for cranes and other such facilities and equipment should be a key concern in construction site safety checks.
Cracks found on the Yuanshan bridge of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway once again set off alarms over the structural integrity and safety of the nation's bridges. The collapse of the Kaohsiung-Pingtung bridge in August 2000 drew attention to the dangerous conditions of many bridges -- for a while. The poor quality of Taiwan's infrastructure, coupled with the frequency of earthquakes, typhoons and landslides, remains a cause for real concern. The transportation authorities should immediately launch inspections of all bridges in order to prevent another infrastructure accident. Railroad tracks in areas hardest hit by Sunday's quake should also be checked before full rail services are resumed. Sunday's quake left some tracks on the Taipei MRT's Tamsui line out of shape, so it is not inconceivable that other rail lines were also affected.
The widespread damage caused by the 921 earthquake and its aftershocks showed Taiwan's fragility. Unfortunately, the government's handling of the quake and its aftermath left much to be desired, as has its laissez-faire attitude to post-921 reconstruction work.
Damage from Sunday's quake was limited and largely concentrated in Taipei City. Rescue operations were quickly launched, but then the Taipei City Government got into an unseemly row with the Ministry of the Interior over compensation for the quake victims -- a disappointing indication that officials and bureaucrats remain deeply entrenched in their partisan positions, no matter what.
Taiwan appears stuck on a treadmill that turns endlessly from disaster to bureaucratic incompetence to recrimination and investigations to punishment and promises of improvement -- and so on, until the next disaster. But officials should be prepared. While the people of Taiwan can't do much in the face of an earthquake, they do have their votes by which to speak when it comes to man-made disasters. It's time to break the cycle and demand true reform and improvement.
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