Siaolin Village (), also spelled Xiaolin Village, is a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in
Jiasian District
Jiasian District, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency () is a District (Taiwan), rural district in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Located far from the coast, the township is regarded as a gatewa ...
,
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
,
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 ...
. It is mostly agricultural and home to one of the largest communities of the
Taivoan people
The Taivoan (; ) or Tevorangh (; ) people or Shisha (), also written Taivuan and Tevorang, Tivorang, Tivorangh, are a Taiwanese indigenous people.
The Taivoan originally settled around hill and basin areas in Tainan, especially in the , which ar ...
.
In 2009,
Typhoon Morakot
Typhoon Morakot, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Kiko, was the deadliest typhoon to impact Taiwan in recorded history. The eighth named storm and fourth typhoon of the 2009 Pacific typhoon season, Morakot wrought catastrophic damage in Taiwa ...
brought unprecedented rainfall to southern Taiwan, including Siaolin. A
landslide dam
A landslide dam or barrier lake is the natural damming of a river by some kind of landslide, such as a debris flow, rock avalanche or volcanic eruption. If the damming landslide is caused by an earthquake, it may also be called a quake lake. Some ...
upstream of Siaolin failed catastrophically, resulting in a devastating
mudflow
A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/second. Mudflows contain a significa ...
to completely cover the northern half of the village. 471 people lost their lives in the incident.
History
Due to the influx of
Siraya people
The Siraya () people are a Taiwanese indigenous people. The Siraya settled flat coastal plains in the southwest part of the island of Taiwan and corresponding sections of the east coast; the area is identified today with Tainan City and Taitung C ...
in early 18th century to
Yujin Basin,
Taivoan people
The Taivoan (; ) or Tevorangh (; ) people or Shisha (), also written Taivuan and Tevorang, Tivorang, Tivorangh, are a Taiwanese indigenous people.
The Taivoan originally settled around hill and basin areas in Tainan, especially in the , which ar ...
started to migrate from
Tainan
Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...
to
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
between 1722 and 1744. Nearly 150 years later, some Taivoan people from
Aliguan in Kaohsiung further migrated to a river terrace to the north of Aliguan for hunting. During
the Japanese Occupation Period, in order to have Taivoan people counter the Mountain Indigenous people so as to control the camphor forest in
Jiasian
Jiasian District, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency () is a rural district in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Located far from the coast, the township is regarded as a gateway to Taiwan's Central Mountain Range.
History
Qing Dyna ...
and
Namasia
Namasia District ( Kanakanavu language, Bunun language: ''Namasia''; ), formerly Sanmin Township (), is a mountain indigenous district located in the northeastern part of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is the second largest district in Kaohsiung after T ...
, Japanese government collectively moved more Taivoan people to the river terrace, which later became Siaolin Village in 1904, said to be named after the family name of the local Japanese police officer Kobayashi (
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''.
It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...
: こばやし; ).
Geography
Siaolin is the largest village within Jiasian District, covering the northern half of the district. It sits in a valley along the
Qishan River
The Qishan River () or Nanzixian River () is a tributary of the Gaoping River in Taiwan. It flows through Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City, and Pingtung County for 117 km.
Bridges
* Jiaxian Bridge
See also
*List of rivers in Taiwan
This ...
, surrounded by the
Alishan Range
The Alishan Range () is a mountain range in the central-southern region of Taiwan. It is separated by the Qishan River from the Yushan Range, the tallest range in Taiwan, to the east of the Alishan Range. The highest peak of the Alishan Range ...
to the west and the
Yushan Range
The Yushan Range, formerly the and also known as the JadeMountain Range, is a mountain range in the central-southern region of Taiwan Island. It spans Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City, and Nantou County. It faces the Central Mountain Range on the ...
to the east. There are two major settlements within Siaolin Village: Siaolin to the north, and Wulipu to the south.
Typhoon Morakot
Between August 6, 2009, and August 10, 2009, Taiwan was hit by
Typhoon Morakot
Typhoon Morakot, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Kiko, was the deadliest typhoon to impact Taiwan in recorded history. The eighth named storm and fourth typhoon of the 2009 Pacific typhoon season, Morakot wrought catastrophic damage in Taiwa ...
, which brought about unprecedented rainfall and flooding across the country. The heavy rainfall caused landslides in mountainous regions in southern Taiwan, especially
Jiasian
Jiasian District, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency () is a rural district in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Located far from the coast, the township is regarded as a gateway to Taiwan's Central Mountain Range.
History
Qing Dyna ...
,
Liouguei,
Taoyuan, and
Namasia
Namasia District ( Kanakanavu language, Bunun language: ''Namasia''; ), formerly Sanmin Township (), is a mountain indigenous district located in the northeastern part of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is the second largest district in Kaohsiung after T ...
districts. According to
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan.
The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...
professor Chen Hong-yu, in the 5 day period before the landslide,
Qishan River
The Qishan River () or Nanzixian River () is a tributary of the Gaoping River in Taiwan. It flows through Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City, and Pingtung County for 117 km.
Bridges
* Jiaxian Bridge
See also
*List of rivers in Taiwan
This ...
and the nearby
Laonong River
The Laonong River, also spelled Laonung River (), is a tributary of the Gaoping River in Taiwan; it is the main course of the river system above the Gaoping River. It flows through Kaohsiung City for 136 km.
See also
*List of rivers in Taiwa ...
carried an abnormal amount of sediment. The sediment carried during the typhoon exceeded 80% of the sediment that the
Gaoping River
The Gaoping River, also spelled Kaoping River (), is the second longest river in Taiwan after Zhuoshui River with a total length of . It is located on the southern part of the island, flowing through Pingtung County and Kaohsiung City. It is the l ...
, which both rivers empty into, carries in an entire year.
Debris flow and landslide dam
![小林村](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/%E5%B0%8F%E6%9E%97%E6%9D%91.jpg)
At 6:16 AM, a
debris flow
Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. They generally ...
occurred from a height of 1445 m on Xiandu Mountain, located upstream on the Qishan River from Siaolin. Saturated with water, 23,000,000 cubic meters of soil rushed downhill at a speed of 50 m/s into the Qishan River. Witnesses reported that two large bangs were heard on Xiandu Mountain immediately prior to the debris flow. The slide immediately covered the northern half of Siaolin and formed a
landslide dam
A landslide dam or barrier lake is the natural damming of a river by some kind of landslide, such as a debris flow, rock avalanche or volcanic eruption. If the damming landslide is caused by an earthquake, it may also be called a quake lake. Some ...
, blocking the river's flow. Within 50 minutes, the landslide dam failed catastrophically, causing another debris flow with a 38% solid composition to erupt downstream, covering the rest of Siaolin. The average depth of the flow was 44.6 m.
In the incident, the entirety of Siaolin, including around 169 residences, were covered by the flooding. Wulipu, which had a higher elevation, was not damaged.
The incident resulted in the deaths of 471 people.
Response
A bus driven by 60 year-old Bang Rong-gui was just leaving Siaolin when Bang saw the landslide. Dropping off his passengers in Wulipu, he turned around and went back to transport more survivors. He managed to pick up 30 more people, but was unfortunately covered by a separate landslide. All lives aboard were lost.
Initially, rescuers and soldiers were dispatched by the government to look for survivors, but no progress was made due to poor weather conditions. Helicopters from Shanlin District were grounded, while collapsed road surfaces along
Highway 29 also prevented rescuers from reaching the settlement.
The following day, twenty one rescuers, eight from the district fire department and thirteen from the military, arrived in Siaolin via helicopter. They reported that out of all the buildings, only 2 were left standing. Soon after, more helicopters were sent out, rescuing 61 people from Siaolin and 14 from other villages. Survivors were directed to evacuation centers in Wulipu,
Qishan, and
Meinong. Officials from the district fire department also entered the settlement via foot, reporting that around 500-600 people may have lost their lives. On August 11, rescuers were finally able to reach the settlement by car. Excavators were brought to find dead bodies, but none were found.
Emergency housing was set up in Wulipu for Siaolin survivors. Due to safety concerns, residents and family members were not allowed to enter the settlement. However, people still snuck in by foot. Evidence of
incense
Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be ...
being burned were found on the bridge number 8, connecting Siaolin with Wulipu. On August 13, residents were allowed to enter the village guided by the military.
Aftermath
Three permanent settlements for residents were built, with one in Wulipu, one on
Taiwan Sugar's land in Shanlin, and third on
Tsu Chi's land in Shanlin. The first two villages are organized by the
Red Cross Society of the Republic of China
The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan) () is the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The society is not recognized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) because it does not meet all the condit ...
, while the third is by Tsu Chi. Xiaolin Elementary School was rebuilt in Wulipu in 2012. A
memorial park at the site of Xiaolin was constructed with 100 trees, symbolizing the families that lost their lives in the landslide.
Some pointed to a construction by the
Water Resources Agency
The Water Resources Agency (WRA; ) is the administrative agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Taiwan (ROC) responsible for water-related affairs.
History
The creation of Water Resources Agency dated back in 1946 under the Ministry ...
as the cause of the landslide. Since 2003, a pipeline was under construction to redirect water from the Laonong River into the Caolan River, which would feed into the
Zengwen Reservoir
Zengwen Dam, also spelled Tsengwen Dam, () is a major earthen dam in Dapu Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan on the Zengwen River. It is the third tallest dam in Taiwan, and forms Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫), the biggest reservoir in Taiwan b ...
. The pipeline passes north of Siaolin, near the site of the landslide. Some blame this construction for weakening the soil and causing the landslide; however, the government held that the heavy rainfall was the real cause. After the incident, construction of the pipeline continued for a year, but was halted due to backlash from residents.
After the landslide, researchers found a new fault line at the site of the landslide.
Minor planet 185636, discovered by
Lulin Observatory
The Lulin Observatory (, obs. code: D35) is an astronomical observatory operated by the Institute of Astronomy, National Central University in Taiwan.
It is located at the summit of Mount Lulin in Xinyi Township, Nantou County. In 200 ...
, was named "Siao Lin" in memorial of Siaolin Village.
References
{{commons category, Xiaolin Village
Villages in Taiwan
Geography of Kaohsiung
Landslides in Taiwan
Siaolin Village
Siaolin Village (), also spelled Xiaolin Village, is a Village (Taiwan), village in Jiasian District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is mostly agricultural and home to one of the largest communities of the Taivoan people.
In 2009, Typhoon Morakot brought ...
Taivoan people
Landslide-dammed lakes