Working with researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, Taiwanese geology professor Shen Chuan-chou (沈川洲) was part of a team that uncovered a history spanning millennia of seismic activity around the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.
Until a devastating earthquake in 2007 proved otherwise, close to a century’s worth of seismic monitoring data going back to the British colonization of the area in the early 1900s had led to the belief that the region was free of large earthquakes.
The magnitude 8.1 quake in 2007 caused a subsequent tsunami that killed 52 people.
Photo courtesy of National Taiwan University associate professor Shen Chuan-chou
Coral reefs near beaches are “natural seismic activity recorders,” as they provide evidence of earthquakes, Shen said.
Through a chemical analysis similar to carbon dating, the team was able to deduce when earthquakes occurred, he said
As seismic activity usually causes land near the epicenter of an earthquake to rise, the tips of coral reefs exposed to air would be unable to continue upward growth, instead growing sideways and forming disc-shaped reefs, Shen said.
Photo courtesy of National Taiwan University associate professor Shen Chuan-chou
The coral’s elevation and time of death rendered clues about the strength of earthquakes, he said.
The Texas team, which worked around Ranongga Island in the Solomon’s Western Province, found that massive earthquakes had occurred in the region every 500 to 1,000 years over the past 4,000 years.
Lead researcher and University of Texas Institute for Geophysics doctoral student Kaustubh Thirumalai said that “this … shows the importance of paleoseismology and paleogeodesy.”
“If we have 100 years of instrumental data saying there’s no big earthquakes here, but we have paleo-records that say … five giant ones in the last few thousand years, that gives you a different perspective on hazards and risk assessment,” Thirumalai said in a recent University of Texas publication.
There is sufficient evidence showing that if the interaction model between tectonic plates does not change, the chances of large earthquakes that would threaten local populations are low, Shen said.
However, due to the frequency of tectonic activity near Taiwan and the plethora of coral reefs surrounding the nation, establishing an archive of the earthquakes that have occurred in the region would be a great benefit, Shen said.
Shen said that he has located a spot off the coast of Kenting Township (墾丁) in Pingtung County, near the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, that would be suitable for a survey and plans to conduct research on the frequency of strong earthquakes near Taiwan.
The Texas team’s findings were published in the latest edition of Nature Communications magazine, which came out on Wednesday last week, as well as in a paper published by the university.
Additional reporting by Tsai Ying
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS