Author Chris van Laak
Photographer Chris van Laak, Reuters, Shufu Liu, Wikipedia, Taipei 101
“Where were you on day X at Y o’clock?”
This is a common question among Taiwanese in the days after a strong earthquake hits the island, as frequently as every few months or so. Taiwanese being Taiwanese, which means seemingly nothing can stir them, the answer to this question is usually mundane, such as “I was still in bed. I knew immediately it’s a big one, but I just stayed put and waited it out. Luckily nothing happened.”
Luckily nothing happened, again, to most Taiwanese when a Magnitude 7.4 quake hit on Wednesday last week (April 3) at 7:58am. Given its magnitude, it is remarkable that only 16 people sadly died, while about 1,000 were injured and, as of this writing, three remain missing after Taiwan’s strongest tremor in 25 years. It is also testament to how far Taiwan has come in terms of neutralizing the seismic forces. Even a once-in-generation tremor will soon fade in people’s memory and become “just another quake.”
Spark for change
“Where were you on Sept. 21, 1999, at 1:47am?”
Every Taiwanese who is old enough to remember will remember. On that night, known to the three-digits loving Taiwanese as “921,” a Magnitude 7.7 quake struck in Nantou County’s Jiji Township (集集). Across Taiwan, 2,415 people died and 11,305 were injured. Over 100,000 buildings collapsed at least partly. Virtually all of northern and central Taiwan were without electricity, often for days. About 1,500 cellphone towers malfunctioned, and even the early adopters of the latest communication technology often had no idea of the full extend of destruction across the island. That only became clear in the days and weeks after the quake, when rescuers scrambled to dig out survivors.
The effects were felt worldwide. Memory chip prices tripled as factories in Taiwan, then the leading producer of the technology, took weeks or even months to resume normal production.
What a contrast to the latest quake.
Even though 28 buildings did collapse and landslides occurred in mountainous areas, life returned to normal pretty much right away for most Taiwanese. They might indeed not be stirred by earthquakes that would terrify almost everybody else, but 921 still looms large in the collective consciousness as a reminder of what might happen—and what happened at a time when Taiwan was ill-prepared.
Remembering 921
Nobody enjoys an earthquake. This becomes especially clear during a visit to the 921 Earthquake Museum in Taichung’s Wufeng District (霧峰), the nation’s main site of commemoration of the event. It was built around the ruins of the Guangfu Junior High School(光復國中） that collapsed during the nighttime quake, luckily without causing casualties.
▼▲The collapsed Guangfu Junior High School is at the center of the 921 Earthquake Museum in Taichung’s Wufeng District (霧峰).(Photo・Chris van Laak)
However, one of the most impressive exhibits in the museum is an inconspicuous room where visitors can experience what the tremor in 1999 felt like. Once every hour, shockwaves of the same magnitude as those 25 years ago are sent through the bodies of visitors sitting safely on cushions on the floor. Projections on the walls show what would have happened to an apartment near the epicenter of the quake, even if it did withstand it, including shattered windows and a broken gas line catching fire.
The reactions of those attending are usually somber. On the day I visited, only two German travelers who had never experienced a real earthquake reacted with visible excitement; everybody else—all of them Taiwanese—seemed rather happy that the minute-long virtual quake was over. For them, taking part in the simulation seemed motivated by an understanding that earthquakes are an inevitable part of life in Taiwan, even virtual ones.
No longer cutting corners
Most of Taiwan’s large earthquakes are centered on Hualien County, near the tectonic boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate is pushed under the Eurasian Plate. The 921 quake, however, serves as a reminder that less frequently active fault lines might also produce major tremors. Taiwan has learned this lesson though and it has understood that true earthquake safety is an all-hands-on-deck task.
Kit Miyamoto, the chairman of California’s Seismic Safety Commission, attributed the much lower scale of damage in Taiwan’s recent quake to changes to the building code. Speaking on the US National Public Radio just hours after the quake, he said construction inspections and other strictly enforced measures “made huge differences.”
Indirectly, however, his praise for Taiwan also pointed to the reason 921 was so devastating: Safety standards were applied unevenly.
Before 1999, peer reviewed evacuations were only required for buildings over 50m in height, with the result that none of them collapsed. Meanwhile, many of the buildings whose collapse cost a large number of people their lives were just below that threshold, such as the 12-story Tunghsing Building（東星大樓） in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), in which 87 people died. An investigation later found that many buildings, including the Tunghsing, had blatant design flaws and concrete pillars had been stuffed with plastic bottles and newspapers to cut building costs.
Does old equal unsafe?
While there’s a high level of trust in Taiwan’s earthquake safety, there is no climate of complacency. As hard as it is to realize a success rate of 100%, every building that collapses is one too many. In the latest quake, the early warning system that is supposed to send alert messages to all mobile phones in the affected area before the most destructive shockwave arrives miscalculated the tremor’s strength, and only those in the proximity to the epicenter received a warning. This sparked public criticism, as well as pledges to implement improvements.
Another cause for concern is the high number of buildings erected before 921 led to a nationwide soul-searching. According to H&B Realty Co, the average age of buildings in Taipei is 37 years, and the building stock in areas that have not seen the same building boom as the capital might even be older.
However, rolling safety assessments are being made on virtually all public buildings, and especially older ones, including many schools, have been equipped with additional support structures.
Regaining trust
When 921 struck, Taiwanese came to the painful realization that they had to rely on their own strengths to avoid future calamities. Aside from high-tech solutions to earthquake-proof the nation, this also included bolstering Taiwan’s disaster response measures. China had stalled some aid efforts by other countries in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
From today’s perspective, it is remarkable how quickly Taiwan regained trust in itself. Less than a year after 921, the developers of a skyscraper project in Taipei decided that 66 floors would not be enough. In essence, they said let’s build back bigger than anybody has ever done before; let’s make it 101 floors.
In every earthquake since its opening in 2004, the Taipei 101 shakes—gently, as it is supposed to—so that no tremor can damage its structure and harm those who work in it.
Banking information for donations
Every contribution, big or small, can make a significant difference in the lives of those affected by the Hualien earthquake; We invite you to support relief efforts by making a donation.
🙏🏻 Bank account for donations by transfer
Account No. 102-005-19895-7 at Land Bank of Taiwan Changchuen Branch (code: 005), while international donations can be made at SWIFT code LBOTTWTP102 in the name of Taiwan Foundation for Disaster Relief at the same bank branch.
