Taiwan is in a seismically active zone, on the

Pacific Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions and ...

, and at the western edge of the

Philippine Sea Plate The Philippine Sea Plate or the Philippine Plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part of ...

.Taiwan Yearbook 2005, p. 23 Geologists have identified 42

active fault An active fault is a fault that is likely to become the source of another earthquake sometime in the future. Geologists commonly consider faults to be active if there has been movement observed or evidence of seismic activity during the last 10,0 ...

s on the island, but most of the earthquakes detected in Taiwan are due to the convergence of the Philippine Sea plate and the

Eurasian Plate The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent and ...

to the east of the island. Most of the earthquakes registered in Taiwan actually occur off the east coast and cause little damage, whereas smaller quakes beneath the island itself have historically proven more destructive. The first recorded earthquake in Taiwan was in 1624, the founding year of

Dutch Formosa The island of Taiwan, also commonly known as ''Formosa'', was partly under colonial rule by the Dutch Republic from 1624 to 1662 and from 1664 to 1668. In the context of the Age of Discovery, the Dutch East India Company established its presence ...

. Between 1901 and the year 2000 there were 91 major earthquakes in Taiwan, 48 of them resulting in loss of life. The most recent major earthquake was the

921 earthquake The Chi-Chi earthquake (later also known as the Jiji earthquake) (), also known as the great earthquake of September 21 (), was a 7.3 ML or 7.7 Mw earthquake which occurred in Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County, Taiwan on Tuesday, 21 Se ...

, which struck on 21 September 1999, and claimed 2,415 lives. Many modern buildings in Taiwan are constructed with earthquake safety in mind, including

Taipei 101 Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...

, which had to cope with the dual challenges of being flexible enough to withstand earthquakes, yet rigid enough to resist wind shear. The

High Speed Rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

system incorporates an automatic safety device to safely bring all trains to a halt when a significant earthquake is detected. Nevertheless, poor construction standards have been blamed for casualties in a number of major earthquakes, including the

1906 Meishan earthquake The 1906 Meishan earthquake () was centered on ''Moe'akhe'' (), Kagi-cho, Japanese Taiwan (modern-day Meishan, Chiayi County, Taiwan) and occurred on March 17. Referred to at the time as the Great Kagi earthquake (), it is the third-deadliest ear ...

and the

1999 Jiji earthquake The Chi-Chi earthquake (later also known as the Jiji earthquake) (), also known as the great earthquake of September 21 (), was a 7.3 ML or 7.7 Mw earthquake which occurred in Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County, Taiwan on Tuesday, 21 Se ...

. Inside Taiwan the

Central Weather Bureau The Central Weather Bureau (CWB; ) is the government meteorological research and forecasting institution of the Republic of China (Taiwan). In addition to meteorology, the Central Weather Bureau also makes astronomical observations, reports on se ...

is the organisation responsible for monitoring and reporting on earthquakes. Large earthquakes are also assessed by the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

. Scientific studies of the seismology of the island started in the

Japanese era The , also known as , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being ""), followed by the literal ...

, when the first seismograph was installed in Taipei by

Fusakichi Omori was a pioneer Japanese seismologist, second chairman of seismology at the Imperial University of Tokyo and president of the Japanese Imperial Earthquake Investigation Committee. Omori is also known for his observation describing the aftershock ...

's company.

Earthquakes

Significant earthquakes are listed here from 1736 to the present. Starting with the

in 1895 there were major improvements in detection technology, allowing more detailed gathering of data.

References

Sources: *

*
Damage list 1900 before
*

*

*
MOTC-87-11
(PDF) *

External links

(English): Central Weather Bureau
Most recent earthquakes in Taiwan
(Chinese): Central Weather Bureau (more detailed than the English version).

(Chinese): Central Weather Bureau {{DEFAULTSORT:Earthquakes in Taiwan

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

Earthquakes

See also

References

External links