Mondo Taiwan - 10/25-11/07/99 - MONDO EARTHQUAKE

<BGSOUND SRC="images/Koyaanisqatsi.mid"> MONDO EARTHQUAKE

(MT) Sunday, November 7, 1999, 5:37 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - Today's noteworthy seismic activity, as reported by the Central Weather Bureau:

7:51 AM, 4.6 km NNE of Chiayi, 4.2. View data here.
(MT) Saturday, November 6, 1999, 1:59 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - The latest seismic activity, as reported by the Central Weather Bureau:

12:21 PM today, 26.4 km southSSW (sic) of Yushan (Jade Mountain), 4.6. View data here.
(MT) Friday, November 5, 1999, 3:53 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - Here's the strangest quake report I've seen so far from the Central Weather Bureau:

1:50 PM, 1 km WNW of Hualien, 4.3.

While that's not strange in and of itself, the part about "Local largest intensity" says that the quake was felt with a magnitude of 5 in Hualien. I don't get it! I double-checked the CWB's info. View English data here or Chinese here.
(MT) Thursday, November 4, 1999, 11:37 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - The Central Weather Bureau has reported 3 noteworthy tremors so far today:

5:34 AM, 27.9 km SW of Alishan, 5.0. View data here.
8:48 AM, 2 km east of Chiayi, 4.5. View data here.
7:06 PM, 45 km NNE of Sun Moon Lake, 4.3. View data here.

No word yet on injuries or damage. The news is reporting about usual things like Jacky Chan's baby, Mariah Carey's clothes, Yunlin County by-elections, and drunk driving deaths involving taxis. Carry on.
(MT) Wednesday, November 3, 1999, 10:47 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - Tuesday morning's 6.9 quake has finally made it to the English newspapers. The lack of injuries or major damage in this quake is said to be due to the fact that its epicenter was offshore, it occurred deep underground (30.4 km below the ocean surface), and that "the geologic structure of eastern Taiwan is more rigid than that of western Taiwan." Various reports are calling this one the "Taitung Earthquake," the "Hualien-Taitung Earthquake" or the "TungHua Earthquake" (a combination word derived from the place names of Taitung and Hualien used to describe a large portion of Taiwan's east coast). Despite the lack of damage, the quake didn't go unnoticed. Over 4,600 households in Hualien lost power, and many people in Taipei were frightened enough by the quake to have slept in tents, worried that their buildings may collapse. Read the Taipei Times article here or the Taiwan News article here.
(MT) Wednesday, November 3, 1999, 12:59 AM, Taichung, Taiwan - Tonight's TV news showed videotaped footage from various locations which was shot as the earthquake happened Tuesday morning. In one convenience store, the clerk seemed oblivious as things were falling off the shelves. At a hospital, the nurses could be seen quickly ducking under their desks, then running from behind the counter after the shaking stopped. In another report on TVBS, a reporter was talking to an astrologer about causes of the quake. While most people may take this to be a "supernatural" approach, the alignment of the planets may indeed have some effect on the movement of tectonic plates. However, in consideration of the source, the validity of the information remains rather questionable.

Noboby I talked to Tuesday seemed to notice the Taichung quake.
(MT) Tuesday, November 2, 1999, 4:18 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - All three of today's English newspapers have NOTHING about the quake. The Central Weather Bureau has reported one more tremor so far today--this time much closer to home, for me:

12:55 PM, 15.5 km (~10 miles) SSE of Taichung, 4.5. View data here.

(MT) Tuesday, November 2, 1999, 3:26 AM, Taichung, Taiwan - Reports are saying the epicenter of this morning's quake was just offshore. As far as I know, this has been the largest tremor since the 7.6 quake of September 21. Otherwise, there's no further information that I can understand except that there will be more news at 6 AM. I hope to be asleep by then. We haven't lost power, and the live TV report earlier lasted only a few minutes, focusing mostly on the lines on the seismograph representing the strength of the quake at various locations. Hopefully, this means that there's nothing serious to report. Still, it's back to sleeping with clothes on for me.

Click the image
to see a larger
map from Reuters.

Click here to see
data from the CWB.

(MT) Tuesday, November 2, 1999, 2:33 AM, Taichung, Taiwan - Just before 2 AM, I felt a big tremor which lasted more than 20 seconds. It was still shaking as I ran out to the street. Through the open windows, I could hear things falling in some of the upper floors of my building, and car alarms started going off, but I didn't see any damage. I couldn't get through to the Central Weather Bureau website, but TVBS-N reports it as a quake with a magnitude of 6.9. The info is scrolling pretty quickly, but it looks like its epicenter was 45 km NE of Taitung County's Chengkung along the eastern coast of Taiwan. It was felt in all parts of the island with Taipei and Kaohsiung (at the northern and southern tips of the island, respectively) both feeling it as a 3. As of 3 AM, there's nothing more on the news about it. I'll update this info as more news is available.
(MT) Monday, November 1, 1999, 9:33 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - The Central Weather Bureau has reported one tremor so far today:

4:40 PM, 41.6 km northNNE (sic) of Hualien, 4.5. View data here.
(MT) Monday, November 1, 1999, 2:29 AM, Taichung, Taiwan - The Central Weather Bureau hasn't reported any new tremors for the past 23 hours. The China Post reported Saturday's quakes on page 19, calling them "mild." In the same article they say that "high-rise buildings [in Taipei] swayed for more than one minute." Huh? The Taiwan News reports the same Rueters story listed below on page 3 of the Sunday edition, and all I can find in the Taipei Times is the graphic "Aftershocks" report on page 2.
(MT) Sunday, October 31, 1999, 5:20 AM, Taichung, Taiwan - Trick or treat? The Central Weather Bureau has already reported one tremor today:

3:21 AM, 3.6 km SE of Chiayi, 4.2. View data here.
(MT) Saturday, October 30, 1999, 11:30 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - You may or may not have noticed that I skipped a couple of days. I hoped I would put an end to this earthquake reporting, but the Central Weather Bureau has reported 6 tremors Saturday. Here are the stats:

11:39 AM, 11.1 km NE of Chiayi, 4.0. View data here.
3:02 PM, 33.1 km WNW of Hualien, 4.8. View data here.
3:32 PM, 30.1 km west of Hualien, 4.8. View data here.
4:27 PM, 31.6 km WNW of Hualien, 5.2. View data here.
4:30 PM, 32.3 km WNW of Hualien, 4.8. View data here.
11:01 PM, 31 km WNW of Hualien, 5.0. View data here.

The first of these came more than 42 hours after the last of the previously reported tremors. CNN even picked up the story of the four afternoon quakes which all occurred within a period of 90 minutes. (Read their coverage here.) A Reuters news story says that buildings in Taipei, far from the epicenter, swayed for over a minute. (Read their coverage here.) There are no reports of damage or injuries at this point.
(MT) Thursday, October 28, 1999, 11:23 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - The song remains the same. Another larger tremor reported by the CWB today. This one occurred at 4:56 PM, 17.6 km ENE of Sun Moon Lake, and measured 4.7. View data here.
(MT) Thursday, October 28, 1999, 4:11 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - One noteworthy tremor reported by the Central Weather Bureau so far today. It occurred at 10:44 AM, 7.5 km NE of Chiayi, and measured 4.3. View data here.
(MT) Thursday, October 28, 1999, 4:24 AM, Taichung, Taiwan - "NO NEW TAXES" to cover reconstruction costs, according to Premier Vincent Siew in Wednesday's news, but he's not making any promises about the next couple of years. He's been flip-flopping on other notable issues recently (see the 10/27 Taipei Times editorial here), so don't think he won't do a "George Bush" on this one.

More importantly, NO NEW TREMORS! The Central Weather Bureau hasn't reported any noteworthy seismic activity since 11:40 AM Wednesday. Jia yóu! Jia yóu! If it keeps going like this, I'll have to change the music.
(MT) Wednesday, October 27, 1999, 3:48 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - The CWB has reported one tremor today. It occurred at 11:40 AM, 12.4 km NE of Sun Moon Lake, and measured 4.4. View data here. This makes it just over 39 hours between the last two reports.
(MT) Wednesday, October 27, 1999, 4:39 AM, Taichung, Taiwan - According to the CWB, there has been no noteworthy seismic activity for the past 32 hours (not since 8:39 PM, Monday). The last report before that was 36 hours after the previous tremor (11:07 AM Sunday). I hope the feeling of normalcy that's starting to return to me will stay for a while.
(MT) Monday, October 25, 1999, 11:36 PM, Taichung, Taiwan - Only one noteworthy tremor reported by the CWB today. It occurred at 8:39 PM, 15.9 km SW of Alishan, and measured 4.1. View data here. This makes it more than 36 hours since the last quake report (11:07 AM Sunday), and that's good! I'm hoping I can completely give up this topic very soon and focus on other news of importance to Taiwan.

In a very touching news story, the Thao tribe--wearing their traditional costume and decorated with garlands made a formal return to their homeland on Puzi--a peninsula on the southern shore of Sun Moon Lake. Their location of their most recent home was in Tehua, where most of their houses were destroyed in the 9/21 earthquake. About 50 years ago when Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese, Sun Moon Lake was turned into a resevoir in order to generate hydroelectric power, and the Thao people were forced to move, as much of their land would subsequently be flooded. They were given no choice in the matter, according to the 10/25 Taipei Times. Read the entire article here.
(MT) Monday, October 25, 1999, 1:33 AM, Taichung, Taiwan - Sunday's Taiwan News, has a huge headline: That Shaky Feeling. "One of the most common and relatively harmless symptoms," they say, "appears to be the imaginary shakng or rocking that gives the individual the sensation of a tremor, not unlike the imaginary swaying that a person continues to feel after an extended period on a ship" Many people, including myself, have taken to designating specific objects--often a glass or bottle of water--as a reference point to indicate whether their sensations are real or imaginary. For others, the psychological effects are much greater. When elderly people hear talk of a "new town" or "new culture" and are forced into sudden changes in their lifestyles, they often feel worthless. They also wonder who will take care of them if the younger, more malleable people in their communities move elsewhere. The article provides several suggestions for dealing with trauma:

* Acknowledge that it's normal to be nervous and/or afraid.
* If you have trouble handling the anxiety or fear, seek help from friends, teachers, or professionals, and share your experiences with them.
* If the trauma has exacerbated existing medical conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.), or caused new problems (sleeplessness, etc.), seek medical help.
* Try to resume your "normal" lifestyle as soon as possible.
* Use muscle relaxation techniques, meditation, or music to deal with "hyperarousal."
* Find time for leisurely, fun activites which also help relieve stress.
* Don't spend long periods of time inside of your house. Get out, and spend time with others.

Read the entire article, "That Shaky Feeling," here.

Since 11:07 AM Sunday (10/24), the Central Weather Bureau hasn't posted any new quake reports. No news is good news.
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