Many Taiwanese likened Wednesday’s shaking to the 1999 disaster. “It felt just like it,” one said. “It felt just as serious.”
But the known damage and casualties this time are far smaller. Of the nine deaths reported so far, many were people who were struck by falling rocks while hiking or in vehicles.
Strict building regulations in Taiwan – revised after the 1999 disaster – and widespread public awareness of the threat posed by seismic activity, appear to have staved off a major catastrophe for the island.
T.H. Schee, of Taiwan’s Open Knowledge Foundation, who has worked closely with civil defence and preparedness groups across Taiwan, had returned to his hometown of Puli, which was impacted heavily by the 1999 quake.
“Just in Puli, around 5,000 buildings collapsed in a small town of 80,000 people. It hurt a lot,” he said. “And after that, the government, especially the Ministry of Interior, started developing new building codes for newly constructed houses, apartments, and buildings that were enforceable.”
“They required buildings to withstand a high level of force,” he said.
