Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China (RoC) is situated in the West Pacific between Japan and the Philippines. It's a country about half the size of Ireland, but with a population of over 23 million people. Taiwan has a history of strong earthquakes as the island is located within a complex zone of convergence between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate.
On April 3rd, 2024, at around 8:00am local time, a massive 7.2 magnitude (ML, local CWA measurement) earthquake struck Taiwan's East coast. Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA) reported the epicenter at 15 km south of the city of Hualien at a depth of about 35 km. It is the strongest earthquake Taiwan has experienced since the 1999 Jiji earthquake, and was felt as far away as Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Taiwan learned valuable lessons and dramatically improved their building codes after the 1999 quake and as a result, the impact of this latest quake was dramatically reduced. Overall, eighteen fatalities were reported along with around 1,100 people injured compared to over 2,400 fatalities and 11,000 people injured in the 1999 quake.
Victims in this recent earthquake mostly met their fate outdoors as a result of falling rocks or landslides. Some were hiking in Taroko National Park, and others driving on mountainous highways. Only one person was killed in a collapsed building in downtown Hualien. The victim had initially escaped but unfortunately went back inside to rescue her pet cat.
At least 1400 aftershocks were recorded in the weeks following the earthquake, however, these have largely abated.
In the aftermath of the earthquake, many countries sent condolences and pledged support. Neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea and Thailand pledged financial aid with the United States and European countries also pledging support. At least 47 countries, including those with no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan as well as the European Union expressed sympathies and offered assistance. Turkey sent a team of rescue specialists and many multinational corporations also pledged disaster relief support.
At the end of May, we traveled to Hualien to meet Yang Shun-Yu (楊順宇) who is the Secretary of the Hualien County Government. We spoke to him to find out about the overall assessment of casualties and damage to housing and infrastructure, the impact of the earthquake to the local economy and in particular, Hualien's tourism industry and how Government assistance and donations are aiding the recovery.
Translation is by Michael Rivers.
Date of Recording: May 23rd, 2024.
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| Earthquake damaged building under demolition in Hualien, Taiwan in May of 2024 |
If you'd like to make a private donation to the Hualien County Government Major Disaster Social Assistance Fund, the following information may be useful;
NOTE: The Hualien County Government commits to strict oversight of all donations to ensure transparency and accountability in their use for relief and reconstruction efforts. Regular updates of the fundraising and expenditure details will be published on the Hualien County Government's official earthquake website at https://www.hl.gov.tw/0403/
DIVE DEEPER:
Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:
- 2024 Hualien earthquake - wiki
- Taiwan earthquake: The mountain 'rained rocks like bullets' - survivor - Rupert Wingfield-Hayes & Kelly Ng, BBC (April 4th, 2024)
- Taiwan shaken but unbowed as biggest quake in 25 years spotlights preparedness - and lessons learned - Wayne Chang et al, CNN (April 5th, 2024)
- 'Everything is still moving':shock and grief take hold in Hualien - Jan Camenzind Broomby and Kenza Wilks, The Guardian (April 5th, 2024)
- Taiwan to subsidize up to S$41.70/room for tourists visiting Hualien & Taitung - Fiona Tan, Mothership (May 3rd, 2024)
#Taiwan, #Hualien, #Earthquake, #HualienEarthquake, #TarokoGorge, #CWA
