The magnitude 7.8 earthquake centered in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras Province on Monday released twice as much seismic energy as the 921 Earthquake, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday.
The magnitude 7.3 earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, centered near Nantou County’s Jiji Township (集集), was the nation’s most devastating post-World War II earthquake, killing 2,456 people and injuring 10,718.
In the Turkey earthquake, which also affected Syria, more than 11,200 deaths have been reported — with the WHO saying the final toll might reach 20,000 — as well as more than 52,880 people injured.
Photo: Screengrab from Central Weather Bureau website
Seismological Center Director Chen Kuo-chang (陳國昌) told a news conference there are three reasons that the earthquake caused such severe casualties in Turkey and Syria.
“First, it happened at midnight when most people were sleeping,” Chen said.
“Second, videos show that many buildings collapsed when the main earthquake struck and no steel rebar was found in the wreckage,” he added. “It is likely that they were unreinforced brick structures, which have very low resistance to earthquakes.”
“Third, the earthquake triggered large aftershocks,” he said. “Although some buildings were not destroyed by the main quake, they were so damaged that they collapsed in the subsequent shaking.”
Chen said Taiwan does not have as much risk as Turkey of such a large quake.
“For such a large, land-based earthquake to happen, a fault of at least 150km is required, but the longest fault in Taiwan, the Chenglungpu Fault (車籠埔), is 112km, so it has a lower chance of causing a magnitude 7.8 quake,” he said, adding that the fault was discovered after the 921 Earthquake.
Nevertheless, Taiwan’s geological structure could still produce magnitude 7.3 to 7.5 earthquakes, and people should be prepared to cope with damage from such large events, Chen said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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