Taiwan, the Island of Earthquake

Viewing the Process of Perfection of Taiwan's Disaster Prevention after the 921 Earthquake

I sincerely prayed for the hope, but finally, it didn’t be fulfilled...

"The position of the seven bodies has been identified, and there is also the remains of a baby."

"I heard the old man's cry for help at three in the morning."

"Dad, Dad, I would rescue you as soon as possible."

The call of firefighters, the cry of families, and the reports of reporters went up and down. At Taiwan Standard Time 1:47 on September 21, 1999, when people were slept soundly, the earth began to shake and the house was collapsing.

The earthquake Energy spread out from the center of Nantou county in Taiwan, with 2,415 deaths, 11,305 injuries, and 29 people missing. From then on, the name of the  921 earthquake  has been imprinted in the hearts of Taiwanese.

This year, 2019, coincides with the 20th anniversary of the 921 earthquake. The time is gradually drifting away, but those pains still cannot be forgotten.

What on earth the power is that could make Taiwan, the Formosa, became a hell within such a short time? Today, 20 years after the 921 earthquake struck, what have we learned from it? Let’s stay tuned and go ahead with the story...


I just fell asleep as usual, and the coming of the disaster was also pretending to be normal and reasonable,with no omens...

▲ Taiwan is located to the junction zone of Philippine Plate and Eurasia Plate

 Circum-Pacific belt , you might always see the term in the subject of Earth Science, and the ocean plate will sink under to the continental plate is the most familiar saying for us. Taiwan is located to Circum-Pacific belt and lies in the junction zone of Philippine Plate and Eurasia Plate. Therefore, earthquakes occur almost every day, simply having the difference of its being sensible or non-sensible for us.

▲ earthquakes measuring ≧ 6 on the Richter scale (1965-2016)

▲ the sketch map of the tectonic plates aggregation

The fault is the ruptured surface of the two separate rock masses moving relative to each other. It often appears at the junction of the plates. The power of the plate aggregation accumulates inside the rock formation. Just like your bending a plastic plate hard, when you apply more force over than the critical point the plastic plate could withstand, the formidable accumulated power in the plastic plate will be released. Then it might break with a loud sound and your hands will be bounced away. Similarly, when the accumulated force exceeds the critical point that the rock can withstand, the rock will rupture, displace and form a fault. At this time, the energy which is released is the source of the earthquake.

So far, you have already known the cause of the earthquake. There are many faults in Taiwan surely because it located to the junction of the plates. Of all the faults in Taiwan, the  Chelungpu Fault  is the culprit of the 921 earthquake, which lies in the region of foothill in the western of Taiwan. The Chelungpu Fault is a north-south directional fault which is vertical to the direction of the plates extrusion. The occurrence of the 921 earthquake indicates that the Chelungpu Fault can store quite positive energy and cause a greater degree of damage and casualties once the power is released.

▲ the location of Chelungpu Fault


I looked into the distance, suddenly realizing that there is no one could be on my mind anymore.

The disaster brought by the 921 earthquake cannot be ignored. According to the statistics, the number of people killed in Taiwan reached 2,318 and the total number of the injured was 8,722. It was the second most serious natural disaster of all time in Taiwan. Among Taiwan's administrative districts, Taichung City suffered from the most casualties and the followed by was Nantou County. Disasters like fires and people being buried alive continued to outbreak, and the condition and scenes then just as Taiwan were in hell.

▲ the number of the injured and the killed during the 921 earthquake in Taiwan

The most direct damage caused by the earthquake is the collapse of the houses, which brought about a lot of casualties. According to the statistics, the number of the houses which were partially destroyed is 54,402 in the country, while the number of the houses which were completely destroyed is 51,925. And the number of the collapsed houses located to Nantou accounts for more than half of the number of the houses which collapsed during the 921 earthquake in Taiwan.

▲ the number of houses which were destroyed completely or destroyed partially in Nantou County

In addition to the low ability of Taiwanese buildings' withstanding earthquakes at the time, the event of the 921 earthquakes also indicated the problem of Taiwanese people's low awareness of preventing disasters.

▲ the collapse of the building in the 921 earthquake

The epicenter of the 921 earthquake was in Jiji Town in Nantou County, with a scale of 7.3. Its total energy released was 1.77±0.4×1020 N-m, which is approximately equal to the power of the explosion of 44.7 Nagasaki's atomic bombs. Because the depth of the earthquake is only 8 km, it belongs to shallow earthquakes. Imagine that the destructive power of the earthquake is like 44.7 atomic bombs exploding at the same time only 8 km under the ground that you are standing on, which would be surely unimaginably horrible.

When it comes to the devastating power,  Central Weather Bureau , which is one of Taiwan's government agency, applies the method called "CWBSIS" to classify the seismic intensity of earthquake according to the degree of the damage brought by earthquakes. The maximum value of CWBSIS is 7 and in the 921 earthquake, the value of Nantou County that the epicenter was located on was exactly 7, which is equivalent to level X to level XII of  Mercalli intensity scale . It is obvious that such destructive power is rather terrible.

▲ the table of CWBSIS ( Central Weather Bureau Seismic Intensity Scales )


In the years that followed, I could only miss my loved ones in every earthquake...

According to the statistics, there are about 23,000 earthquakes striking Taiwan each year. Of all the earthquakes occurring in Taiwan, the number of the sensible earthquakes is about 1000, with an average number of two or three earthquakes happening per day.

The frequency of the occurrence of the earthquakes in Taiwan can rank in the top ten in the world. Compared with the top countries whose land area are large such as United States, Japan and Chile, the earthquakes happen quite frequently in Taiwan because of there being still such plenty of earthquakes in its limited land area.

▲ the heat map of the world's earthquake


Their figures gradually blurred in my brain. I picked up my courage, bringing with me the unlimited hope just like then and starting to chase the light...

After the event of the 921 earthquake in 1999, all sectors of the community began to explore and review the reason why the earthquake could cause such a heavy catastrophe. Then in 2000, the next year of the earthquake happening, Taiwan officially passed the  Disaster Prevention and Protection Act  and began to establish a complete disaster prevention system in accordance with the law. Many types of disasters in Taiwan also be redefinition to classify the rights and responsibilities more clearly. In addition to more correct prevention concepts and better control of various types of disasters, it can also find the right antidote in a short time when different kinds of disasters strike Taiwan.

▲ After the 921 earthquake, the government promoted and funded to establish Chi-Chi Earthquake Reconstruction Foundation, which take responsibility for the reconstruction of the 921 earthquake

It is necessary to implement the decree after it was established in order to truly achieve the purpose of disaster prevention. In view of the excellent effect and achievement of the use of technology for operations such as rescue and disaster reduction after the 921 earthquake, Taiwan established a institution called  National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction ( NCDR ) , which is in charge of developing various technologies of disaster prevention and mitigation, promoting Community-Based Disaster Management, conducting disaster prevention camps, and distributing publications about disaster prevention to raise public awareness of disaster prevention. It also set September 21 as Taiwan's disaster prevention day on which all organs and schools should simulate the situation of earthquake occurring and exercise how to escape and respond to the earthquake when it strikes. Until today, people have the awareness of disaster prevention increasingly.

▲ Community-Based Disaster Management promoted by NCDR

The people have paid attention to the small details about disaster prevention around them since they started to have disaster prevention awareness. For example, they would begin to pay attention to possible escape routes in peacetime, prepare disaster refuge packages, and so on. Some even choose building materials which are fireproof or shockproof when they buy new houses.

However, there are still a large number of old houses that don't consider or introduce the anti-shock technology in Taiwan which are probably destroyed when earthquakes strike though. Even some of strong houses might collapse unfortunately because of the too great disasters. As a result, the government has begun to rebuild some large and public sites such as community activity centers, gyms and parks into shelters. The government has also begun to plan disaster prevention maps in various places so that people can avoid and self-rescue in the event of large-scale disasters.

▲ the map of the park which is able to be a shelter when disasters come

There are still some shortcomings today from the perspective of the number and the capacity of shelters, but the shelters are increasing year by year. The trend shows that the government and the people's awareness of disaster prevention has been more and more complete.

▲ the location of shelters in Taiwan


I am not afraid anymore. Take all of your love and blessings,I will live well!

The 921 earthquake was a heartbreaking day in Taiwan's history, but fortunately we didn't immerse in the sorrows but turned those heartaches into a force to alert ourselves. According to statistics, the frequency of extreme weather and disasters is constantly increasing. We must always keep our awareness of disaster prevention in our hearts so that tragedies will not happen again.

The 921 earthquake will not disappear in the hearts of Taiwanese even though 20 years passed, and surely it will not be a reason that block Taiwanese getting better. Those who have passed away will become the energy for their offspring to continue to go forward. Hope that Taiwan will become a well-lived place with everyone's efforts.

▲ After 20 years later, Nantou becomes a county whose tourism industry is prosperous because of its beautiful natural scenery.

▲ the sketch map of the tectonic plates aggregation

▲ the collapse of the building in the 921 earthquake

▲ the table of CWBSIS ( Central Weather Bureau Seismic Intensity Scales )

▲ After the 921 earthquake, the government promoted and funded to establish Chi-Chi Earthquake Reconstruction Foundation, which take responsibility for the reconstruction of the 921 earthquake

▲ the map of the park which is able to be a shelter when disasters come

▲ After 20 years later, Nantou becomes a county whose tourism industry is prosperous because of its beautiful natural scenery.