After the September 21 quake, the area around the Chelungpu fault presented endless scenes of tragedy and devastation. The quake caused the athletics field at Kuangfu Junior High to rise two meters. When some people came to take souvenir photos, many were outraged. (Hsueh Chi-kuang)

How many geologic fault lines are there in Taiwan? Since a major earthquake rocked the island on September 21, the mere mention of fault lines has been enough to make people blanch with fear. But there's still some confusion as to just what exactly geologic faults are. Is there any way to avoid them? And by avoiding them, is there nothing to fear from an earthquake?

People truly have short memories.

Driving out to Chulan, where the September quake wreaked the greatest damage along the Chelungpu fault, you pass Yutengping. The town is well known among train buffs for the scenic Yutengping Railway Bridge, which graces the many a postcard despite being half toppled and long out of service. Few people, however, know that after it collapsed during the 1935 Houli earthquake, the local government preserved it as an "earthquake memorial bridge."

The Houli quake was triggered by slippage along the Shihtan and Tuntzuchiao faults and caused more than 3,000 deaths. Houli elementary school, then a Japanese public elementary school, sat directly on a fault line and was completely destroyed. They built an earthquake memorial on the site, but after retrocession everyone forgot all about the quake, and the memorial was dragged behind Houli City Hall. Remarkably, the site was used to build yet another school, Houli Junior High! Fortunately, the September 21 quake didn't involve the local fault, but the school still suffered costly damages, with a number of its windows falling out.