Most people in Taiwan were asleep at 1:47 on the morning of September 21 when the island was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale. By the time Sinorama went to press on September 29, the quake had caused over 10,000 casualties, including more than 2,000 deaths. Over 10,000 homes had collapsed. Roads throughout much of Taiwan were rendered impassable and rail traffic was disrupted. Twenty-one grain silos burst, spilling over 15,000 tons of unhusked rice onto the ground. Losses in the industrial sector have been astronomical, with operations grinding to a halt at 53 industrial parks across the island. Firms at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park alone lost more than NT$10 billion, and total losses across the island will never be known for certain. Cries of anguish
Taiwan is one of the six most earthquake-prone areas in the world. The quake of September 21 occurred just one kilometer from the earth's surface, and geologists would thus categorize it as a "shallow earthquake." According to experts, "It's like exploding an extremely powerful bomb just below the surface of the earth." Shallow earthquakes have a greater impact near the epicenter than deeper ones do. The big earthquake that hit the counties of Hsinchu and Taichung in 1935, for example, raised the earth in some places by as much as three meters, but last week's earthquake in the township of Chichi lifted the ground five meters in some places. This earthquake resulted in greater vertical and lateral displacement than we have seen in the past. Experts estimate that the destructive power of the Chichi earthquake was double that of the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan.
The Central Weather Bureau estimates that the main quake in the wee hours of September 21 has been followed by nearly 8,000 aftershocks as of September 27, with eight of these registering 6 or greater on the Richter scale. The combined force of all the tremors has exceeded that of 25 atomic bombs, thus making this the largest earthquake of the century in Taiwan.
According to Wang Chien-ying, a professor of geophysics at National Central University, the Chichi earthquake, as it has come to be known in Taiwan, started along the Tamaopu and Shuangtung fault lines, both of which are located in central Taiwan. This activity subsequently triggered a violent upward thrust along the Chelungpu fault line, which lies parallel and to the west of the other two fault lines. The greatest destruction occurred in Taichung County along the fault lines (in Tungshih, Fengyuan, Tali, and Wufeng) and Nantou County near the epicenter (in Puli, Chushan, Mingchien, and Chungliao). The quake actually changed the shape of mountains and the course of streams in these places, and it also wreaked extensive damage upon buildings and other structures throughout most of Taiwan, with numerous damage reports coming in from the counties of Taipei, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, and Tainan. The only areas to escape without major damage were eastern Taiwan and Kaohsiung.
The quake triggered a massive landslide on the eastern face of Chiufen Mountain #2, a 1,174-meter peak near Kuohsing township in Nantou County, turning a once-verdant mountainside into a barren escarpment. The landslide dammed a creek and resulted in the formation of a small lake. The once-verdant Mt. Chiuchiu in Tsaotun township now looks more like a lunar landscape. The famous tourist destination of Sun Moon Lake has not been spared either-the venerable Tienlu Hotel was flattened, and Kuanghua Island was split in two when part of it sank into the lake.
When the earth itself cannot withstand the force of a quake, one can well imagine the danger to fragile humans. In Taichung and Nantou counties, cries of grief continue to echo everywhere. The landslide on Chiufen Mountain #2 gouged as much as 100 meters from the mountainside, leaving at least 40 people buried alive in the village of Nankang. In the township of Chungliao, over 90% of all buildings sustained damage. Out of a population of no more than 20-30 thousand, fully 154 people died, with some families wiped out entirely. Anyone in Chungliao would agree that a big earthquake is more frightening even than war. In Puli and Chushan, the United Daily News reports: "Survivors are completely cut off from the outside world because fallen buildings block every single road leading out of town. Everyone is camping out in school playgrounds, and many children in town have become orphans." A huge explosion and fire occurred at the brewery in Puli, famous for its shaoxing rice wine, and the Central Cross-island Highway is badly damaged. In the township of Tungshih, Taichung County, entire rows of buildings have been razed, while houses located near the mountains have been obliterated by landslides. The death toll there stands at 451. In Wufeng, part of the Lin gardens, recently renovated at a cost of NT$100 million, has been demolished. In the city of Tali, several buildings over ten stories tall have collapsed, and survivors wail inconsolably amidst the rubble.
Chungtan Highway, which connects Taichung and Nantou, was completely destroyed.