Taiwan earthquake

On September 21, 1999, an earthquake in Taiwan killed more than 2,400 people, destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings and left an estimated 100,000 people homeless. It was the worst earthquake to hit Taiwan–where quakes are common due to its location in a seismically active zone of the Pacific basin—since a 1935 tremor that killed more than 3,200 people. At 1:47 a.m. on September 21, 1999, the island of Taiwan, located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, was shaken by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake. Its epicenter was located in Nantou County in central Taiwan, but serious damage occurred across the island. More than 2,400 people were killed, while more than 11,000 others were injured and thousands of buildings were destroyed or damaged. Roads buckled, bridges collapsed and landslides diverted rivers, causing the impromptu formation of lakes. There was not enough freezer capacity in the country’s morgues to hold all the bodies. Did you know? Taiwan is home to one of the world’s tallest buildings, the Taipei 101. Opened in 2004, the building has 101 floors plus five underground levels. Buildings all over the island proved to be vulnerable. Several tall buildings in Taiwan’s capital city, Taipei, located 90 miles north of the quake’s epicenter, were toppled. The quake exposed the fact that shoddy construction had occurred during Taiwan’s building boom in the 1990s. Tent cities popped up in fields and parks because many people were afraid of being in buildings while ...

• • • • A 6.8 magnitudeearthquakehit the sparsely populatedsoutheasternpart ofTaiwanon Sunday, the island’s weather bureau said, derailing train carriages, causing a convenience store to collapse and trapping hundreds on mountain roads. The weather bureau said The US Geological Survey measured Sunday’s quake at a magnitude 7.2 and at a depth of six miles. Taiwan’s fire department said all four people were rescued from abuildinghousing a convenience store that collapsed in Yuli, while three people whose vehicle fell off a damaged bridge were rescued and taken to hospital. Firefighters work at the site where a building collapsed following a 6.8-magnitude earthquake, in Yuli, Hualien county, Taiwan. Taiwan's 0918 Earthquake Central Emergency Operations Centre/Handout via REUTERS TheTaiwanRailways Administration said six carriages came off the rails at Dongli station More than 600 people are trapped on the scenic Chike and Liushishi mountain areas by blocked roads, though there were no injuries and rescuers were working to reopen the roads, the department said. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning forTaiwanafter the tremor but later lifted the alert. Japan’s weather agency lifted a tsunami warning for part of Okinawa prefecture. TheearthquakehitTaiwanon Sunday, derailing train carriages, causing a convenience store to collapse and trapping hundreds. Taiwan's 0918 Earthquake Central Emergency Operations Centre/Handout via REUTERS The Science parks in the south...