The 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake occurred with a

Richter magnitude The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

of 7.1 (7.0 M_w) in April 1935 with its epicenter in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

, Taiwan (then

Shinchiku Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Taiwan during the Japanese era. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County, Taoyuan City, and Miaoli County. Population 1941 ( Showa 16) census *Total population: 838,011 **Jap ...

). It was the deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's recorded history, claiming 3,276 lives and causing extensive damage. Twelve seconds after the mainshock, an aftershock of 6.0 occurred, centered on ''Gabi Village'' (present-day Emei Township,

Hsinchu County Hsinchu County (Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a county in north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka; with a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the county capital, where ...

Earthquake

The initial shock happened at 06:02 local time on 21 April 1935. The epicentre was in the village of , Byōritsu District,

(modern-day Sanyi, Miaoli), with the quake measuring 7.1 on the Richter magnitude scale. The quake was felt all over Taiwan apart from

Hengchun Hengchun Township is a township located on the southern tip of the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is the southernmost township in Taiwan. Hengchun is also the only urban township in the southern part of Pingtung County. Hengch ...

on the southern tip of the island, as well as in

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

and

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, across the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...

Soil liquefaction Soil liquefaction occurs when a cohesionless saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress such as shaking during an earthquake or other sudden change in stress condition, in ...

was observed in various locations, and a 3 m (10 ft) drop between the two sides of the fault was in evidence at Gabi Village. The most serious damage from the quake was located in Shinchiku Prefecture and

Taichū Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Japanese Taiwan. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Taichung City, Changhua County and Nantou County. It is also the origin of the name of modern-day Taichung. The Taichū Prefecture was the scene ...

(present-day Miaoli County and

) over a area. A number of aftershocks followed the main quake, with the largest registering 6.0 with an epicentre at Gabi.

Damage

The earthquake was the deadliest in Taiwan's

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world hist ...

. The official reports cite the following figures for deaths, injuries and damage: *Deaths: 3,276 *Injuries: 12,053 *Houses destroyed: 17,907 *Houses damaged: 36,781 The infrastructure of the island also sustained severe damage, with transportation, communications, and water networks heavily compromised.

Reported portents

Residents in central Taiwan reported that several days before the earthquake there were "signs in the sky" of impending disaster, while locals from Kiyomizu Town,

(modern-day Qingshui,

) near the epicentre, reported water boiling in ground wells an hour before the shock.

Response

The great number of casualties in the earthquake prompted a review of safety standards, with the colonial Japanese government implementing building codes of a similar standard to those in force in Japan in the wake of the disaster. Locals were apparently appreciative of the efforts of Japanese policemen in recovering bodies, given local superstitions against touching the dead.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1935 Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake Hsinchu-taichung Earthquake, 1935 Hsinchu-Taichung Hsinchu County Taichung Miaoli County Earthquakes in Taiwan