The Strongest Earthquake in Taiwan in 25 years: What Happened?

So, What happened?

At around 8 am on the 3rd of April 2024, Taiwan was struck by an earthquake of 7.2 magnitudes, which had a major impact in Hualien – a city located on the east coast of Taiwan. This earthquake caused the collapse of 161 buildings in Taiwan and resulted in the deaths of 9 people and the injury of over 800 citizens. 

Why is Taiwan so prone to earthquakes?

The Pacific “Ring of Fire”- is a term used to describe the line of semitic faults around the Pacific Ocean, commonly paired with active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. 90% of the world’s earthquakes are said to take place in this “Ring of Fire” (Badgamia, 2024).

Taiwan can be found near the intersection of two tectonic plates. Tectonic plates – are giant puzzle-like pieces on the Earth's surface. A transform boundary is formed when tectonic plates move horizontally past each other. At the points where these plates meet, some sections become attached. As the rest of the plates keep moving, stress builds up in these areas. This stress then results in the crack or slip of rocks, suddenly shoving the plates forward and causing earthquakes to occur. As because Taiwan is located near the junction of two tectonic plates, this means that earthquakes are even more likely to occur there (Plate Tectonics, n.d.).

What are the recovery steps Taiwan has taken to restore the damage from the earthquake

Taiwan’s vice president, Lai Ching-te, stated the following “First, priority should be given to rescue. We need to carefully investigate how many people are still trapped, quickly launch rescues, and provide medical services to the injured as soon as possible; secondly, we need to restore public facilities as soon as possible, including transportation, water and electricity. Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications has indicated that the Taiwan Railway will resume two-way single-line service to Hualien tomorrow morning, and is expected to resume two-way double-line service at night, so that people's lives can return to normal as much as possible.” (BBC, 2024).

Furthermore, China, the US, and Japan showed genuine care for Taiwan and all offered support for Taiwan during this time. Being one of Taiwan’s allies, the Japanese government provided Taiwan with an Emergency Grant Aid of 1 million USD through Japan- Taiwan Exchange association on April 9th, 6 days after the initial earthquake. (Emergency Grant, 2024). The Red Cross of China – extended a 100,000 cash donation and relief supplies valued at 500,000 yuan to Taiwan (China/Taiwan Disaster, n.d.).

How has this helped Taiwan in terms of its earthquake preparedness and prevention?

As Taiwan already implemented a lot of earthquake prevention/detection technology, the recovery for its community’s services and public facilities was swift. However, there has been a lot of destruction and damage done to the buildings due to the earthquake. This suggests that Taiwan should be looking into the construction of the building (including the material used etc) and its foundation, as it would greatly benefit the community by making the buildings more resilient to earthquakes and safe for citizens.

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