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.
In an article published in Newsweek on Monday last week, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged China to retake territories it lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. “If it is really for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t China take back Russia?” Lai asked, referring to territories lost in 1858 and 1860. The territories once made up the two flanks of northern Manchuria. Once ceded to Russia, they became part of the Russian far east. Claims since then have been made that China and Russia settled the disputes in the 1990s through the 2000s and that “China
China has successfully held its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with 53 of 55 countries from the African Union (AU) participating. The two countries that did not participate were Eswatini and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which have no diplomatic relations with China. Twenty-four leaders were reported to have participated. Despite African countries complaining about summit fatigue, with recent summits held with Russia, Italy, South Korea, the US and Indonesia, as well as Japan next month, they still turned up in large numbers in Beijing. China’s ability to attract most of the African leaders to a summit demonstrates that it is still being
Trips to the Kenting Peninsula in Pingtung County have dredged up a lot of public debate and furor, with many complaints about how expensive and unreasonable lodging is. Some people even call it a tourist “butchering ground.” Many local business owners stake claims to beach areas by setting up parasols and driving away people who do not rent them. The managing authority for the area — Kenting National Park — has long ignored the issue. Ultimately, this has affected the willingness of domestic travelers to go there, causing tourist numbers to plummet. In 2008, Taiwan opened the door to Chinese tourists and in
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Thursday was handcuffed and escorted by police to the Taipei Detention Center, after the Taipei District Court ordered that he be detained and held incommunicado for suspected corruption during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The ruling reversed an earlier decision by the same court on Monday last week that ordered Ko’s release without bail. That decision was appealed by prosecutors on Wednesday, leading the High Court to conclude that Ko had been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and it ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Video clips
RSS