Taiwan was struck on Wednesday by its most powerful earthquake in a quarter of a century, killing at least 10 people and leaving hundreds injured, buildings and highways damaged, and dozens of workers at quarries stranded.
Taiwan is no stranger to powerful earthquakes, yet their toll on the nation’s 23 million residents has been relatively contained thanks to its excellent earthquake preparedness, experts said.
Taiwan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur. The area is particularly vulnerable to temblors due to the tension accumulated from the interactions of two tectonic plates, the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate, which might lead to sudden releases in the form of earthquakes.
Photo: CNA
The region’s mountainous landscape can also magnify the ground shaking, leading to landslides. Several such landslides occurred on Taiwan’s eastern coast, close to the quake’s epicenter near Hualien County, when falling debris hit tunnels and highways, crushing vehicles and causing several deaths.
Wednesday’s earthquake measured a magnitude of 7.2, Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency said, while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.4.
It damaged several buildings in Hualien, but caused only minor losses in Taipei. The earthquake hit in the middle of the morning rush hour, yet only slightly derailed the regular commute. Just minutes later, parents were again walking their children to school and workers were driving to offices.
“Taiwan’s earthquake preparedness is among the most advanced in the world,” said Stephen Gao (高尚行), a seismologist and professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology. “The island has implemented strict building codes, a world-class seismological network and widespread public education campaigns on earthquake safety.”
The government continuously revises the quake resistance required of new and existing buildings — which might increase construction costs — and offers subsidies to residents willing to check their buildings’ quake resistance.
In 2016, an earthquake in Tainan killed dozens after a 17-story apartment toppled. It was the only major structure that collapsed, and five people involved in its construction were found guilty of negligence and given prison sentences.
Taiwan is also pushing for earthquake drills at schools and workplaces, while media and phone alerts regularly send notices about earthquakes and safety.
“These measures have significantly enhanced Taiwan’s resilience to earthquakes, helping to mitigate the potential for catastrophic damage and loss of life,” Gao said.
Taiwan and its surrounding waters have registered about 2,000 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4 or greater since 1980, and more than 100 earthquakes with a magnitude above 5.5, the US Geological Survey said.
The worst earthquake in recent years was on Sept. 21, 1999, with a magnitude of 7.6. It caused 2,456 deaths, injured 10,718 and destroyed thousands of buildings.
It was a major wake-up call that led to key administrative reforms that improved emergency response and disaster reduction, Northeastern University political science and public policy professor Daniel Aldrich said.
“Observers strongly criticized Taiwan’s response to the 1999 earthquake, arguing that it took hours for emergency medical response teams to arrive, that rescuers lacked training and that the operations between government agencies were not well coordinated,” he wrote in an e-mail.
As a result, the government passed the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法) and set up two national centers to handle coordination and training for earthquakes.
“I think we’re seeing the results in this most recent shock,” he said.
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