Since I am here, I think that I felt around 7 or 8 small earthquakes small earthquakes of about 3 on the Richter scale, as well as a most important one of 4.6.
So I used to visit the Central Weather Bureau website at least once a week which provides real-time information.
Taiwan is placed on the Ring of Fire on which many volcanic eruptions as well as earthquakes. Most of these natural events are located in this risk area. Tectonic plates are placed all along this line, which causes all these problems.
Most earthquakes come from the east coast of Taiwan and are quite light and without much danger.
Unfortunately, Taiwan is infamous because of the worst earthquake ever recorded on the island. It was nicknamed the 921 Earthquake.
On September 21, 1999, in Nantou County, in central Taiwan, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale was repeated 3 times in a row. This resulted in 2,415 deaths, 11,305 injuries and property damage equivalent to $ 10 billion.
The 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan is located in Taichung and was opened by the government on February 13, 2001.
Recently, a new tragedy of this kind has arrived. It was the day before I left for Taiwan, February 7, 2018. In addition to never having flown, never been away so far, and so long, I had to face the stress of the news.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake caused the collapse of a hotel, the Marshal Hotel. 17 people die and 285 are injured. The epicenter was in Hualien, on the east coast. Information from all over the world relayed this information even though Taiwan is not really a country in the mainstream of international news in normal times.
Having made some connections before I left, I sent a message directly to find out if everyone was fine and if no damage had been recorded. It turned out that the disaster had mainly affected the epicenter.
Pope Francis had also expressed his solidarity with the affected Taiwanese in a Vatican statement.
In that same month, more than 100 earthquakes were felt. Indeed, they are cyclical. Lee Chyi-tyi (李錫 堤), a professor at NCU's Graduate Institute of Applied Geology said: "For the next 10 years in Hualien, The probability of a magnitude 8 earthquake is high, and I predict that there will be another earthquake (similar in size) in 2025. "
This earthquake happened exactly two years ago in the Taiwanese city of Tainan, which killed at least 116 people.
Fortunately, today all modern buildings are subject to safety standards. Buildings and homes can therefore withstand earthquakes of a certain power. They are "flexible".
The Taipei 101 tower is also equipped. The system is pretty impressive. The tower must be flexible while being strong enough to withstand the very strong wind at this height.
All of this is possible thanks to the damper. This huge ball placed on several cylinders.
The dampers were created in Japan. They insulate the building from the Earth, which produces a counterforce that reduces the energy of the earthquake.
Arriving in Taiwan, in addition to reassuring me about the safety of the buildings, my landlord told me a park near my apartment in which I had to go in case of a strong earthquake. Everything is very secure and reassuring.
NO FEAR TO HAVE !!!!!