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1999 Jiji earthquake
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1999 Jiji earthquake
The Chi-Chi earthquake (later also known as the Jiji earthquake, 921 Earthquake, or 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 21 September 1999 at 01:47:12 local time. 2,415 people were killed, 11,305 injured, and NT$300 billion worth of damage was done. It is the second-deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's recorded history, after the 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake.
Rescue groups from around the world joined local relief workers and the Taiwanese military in digging out survivors, clearing rubble, restoring essential services and distributing food and other aid to the more than 100,000 people made homeless by the quake. The disaster, dubbed the "Quake of the Century" by the local media, had a profound effect on the economy of the island and the consciousness of the people, and dissatisfaction with the government's performance in reacting to it was cited by a Taiwanese sociologist as a factor in the unseating of the ruling Kuomintang party in the 2000 presidential election.
The Disaster Prevention and Protection Act was enacted on 30 June 2000 by Taiwan Government, designated 21 September as National Disaster Prevention Day. Every year on September 21 at 9:21 AM, a drill message is sent to all mobile phones through the Public Warning System in the form of a national alert.
The earthquake struck at 01:47:12.6 TST on Tuesday, 21 September 1999 (i.e., 1999-09-21, hence "921"). The epicenter was at 23.77° N latitude, 120.98° E longitude, 9.2 km (5.7 mi) southwest of Sun Moon Lake, near the town of Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County. The tremor measured 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and 7.3 on the Richter scale, and the focal depth was 8.0 km (5.0 mi). The Central Weather Bureau recorded a total of 12,911 aftershocks in the month following the mainshock. The total energy released is estimated to be 2.1 × 1017 J, approximately the same as the yield of the Tsar Bomba. The earthquake was in an unusual location for Taiwan, which experiences the majority of its earthquakes off the eastern coast, with such quakes normally causing little damage. One of the aftershocks, on 26 September, measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and caused previously weakened buildings to collapse, killing another three people.
At the time of the quake, Taiwan had the most extensive network of sensors and monitoring stations in the world, resulting in "probably the best data set ever collected for an earthquake". At one station, a peak ground motion of 300 cm/s (3 m/s; 10 ft/s) was recorded, the highest ever measurement taken in an earthquake anywhere. Soil liquefaction was observed at Yuanlin and caused settlement of building foundations and filling in of water wells from sand boils. The earthquake occurred along the Chelungpu Fault in the western part of the island of Taiwan. The fault stretches along the foothills of the Central Mountains in Nantou County and Taichung County (now part of Taichung City). Some sections of land near the fault were raised as much as 7 m (23 ft). Near Dongshih, near the northern end of the fault, a nearly 7 m (23 ft) high waterfall was created by the earthquake as the surface rupture offset the channel of the Dajia River. The total surface rupture was about 100 km in length.
Damage caused by the earthquake included 2,415 deaths, 29 missing, 11,305 severely wounded, with 51,711 buildings completely destroyed, 53,768 buildings severely damaged, and a total of NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) worth of damage. Power was cut to a large proportion of the island, due to damage to power stations, transmission stations, and the automatic shutdown of Taiwan's three nuclear power plants, which were restarted two days later. National electricity provider Taipower stated that a day after the quake power had been restored to 59% of the country. 102 major bridges were badly damaged, with many having to be torn down. The Central Cross-Island Highway, at the time the only major complete route across the mountains in central Taiwan, was badly damaged. Subsequent storm damage and the high cost of restoration means that the highway remains partially closed as of 2018. There were a total of 132 landslides during the main quake and the aftershocks, some causing loss of life as rockfalls crushed houses. 870 schools suffered damage, with 125 severely damaged, closing many down for months or even permanently in a few cases.
In Nantou County, towns such as Puli suffered heavy damage, and there were 846 deaths, 153 missing and 1,889 injuries. Due to the relatively remote location of many of the affected settlements, aid from the central government took some time to reach some survivors. About 80 percent of houses in Zhongliao were severely damaged or destroyed.
At least 1,074 deaths and 3,648 injuries were reported in Taichung County, where 3,211 houses were destroyed. The Port of Taichung, one of Taiwan's major commercial harbours, was badly damaged and had to be temporarily closed.
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1999 Jiji earthquake
The Chi-Chi earthquake (later also known as the Jiji earthquake, 921 Earthquake, or 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 21 September 1999 at 01:47:12 local time. 2,415 people were killed, 11,305 injured, and NT$300 billion worth of damage was done. It is the second-deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's recorded history, after the 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake.
Rescue groups from around the world joined local relief workers and the Taiwanese military in digging out survivors, clearing rubble, restoring essential services and distributing food and other aid to the more than 100,000 people made homeless by the quake. The disaster, dubbed the "Quake of the Century" by the local media, had a profound effect on the economy of the island and the consciousness of the people, and dissatisfaction with the government's performance in reacting to it was cited by a Taiwanese sociologist as a factor in the unseating of the ruling Kuomintang party in the 2000 presidential election.
The Disaster Prevention and Protection Act was enacted on 30 June 2000 by Taiwan Government, designated 21 September as National Disaster Prevention Day. Every year on September 21 at 9:21 AM, a drill message is sent to all mobile phones through the Public Warning System in the form of a national alert.
The earthquake struck at 01:47:12.6 TST on Tuesday, 21 September 1999 (i.e., 1999-09-21, hence "921"). The epicenter was at 23.77° N latitude, 120.98° E longitude, 9.2 km (5.7 mi) southwest of Sun Moon Lake, near the town of Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County. The tremor measured 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and 7.3 on the Richter scale, and the focal depth was 8.0 km (5.0 mi). The Central Weather Bureau recorded a total of 12,911 aftershocks in the month following the mainshock. The total energy released is estimated to be 2.1 × 1017 J, approximately the same as the yield of the Tsar Bomba. The earthquake was in an unusual location for Taiwan, which experiences the majority of its earthquakes off the eastern coast, with such quakes normally causing little damage. One of the aftershocks, on 26 September, measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and caused previously weakened buildings to collapse, killing another three people.
At the time of the quake, Taiwan had the most extensive network of sensors and monitoring stations in the world, resulting in "probably the best data set ever collected for an earthquake". At one station, a peak ground motion of 300 cm/s (3 m/s; 10 ft/s) was recorded, the highest ever measurement taken in an earthquake anywhere. Soil liquefaction was observed at Yuanlin and caused settlement of building foundations and filling in of water wells from sand boils. The earthquake occurred along the Chelungpu Fault in the western part of the island of Taiwan. The fault stretches along the foothills of the Central Mountains in Nantou County and Taichung County (now part of Taichung City). Some sections of land near the fault were raised as much as 7 m (23 ft). Near Dongshih, near the northern end of the fault, a nearly 7 m (23 ft) high waterfall was created by the earthquake as the surface rupture offset the channel of the Dajia River. The total surface rupture was about 100 km in length.
Damage caused by the earthquake included 2,415 deaths, 29 missing, 11,305 severely wounded, with 51,711 buildings completely destroyed, 53,768 buildings severely damaged, and a total of NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) worth of damage. Power was cut to a large proportion of the island, due to damage to power stations, transmission stations, and the automatic shutdown of Taiwan's three nuclear power plants, which were restarted two days later. National electricity provider Taipower stated that a day after the quake power had been restored to 59% of the country. 102 major bridges were badly damaged, with many having to be torn down. The Central Cross-Island Highway, at the time the only major complete route across the mountains in central Taiwan, was badly damaged. Subsequent storm damage and the high cost of restoration means that the highway remains partially closed as of 2018. There were a total of 132 landslides during the main quake and the aftershocks, some causing loss of life as rockfalls crushed houses. 870 schools suffered damage, with 125 severely damaged, closing many down for months or even permanently in a few cases.
In Nantou County, towns such as Puli suffered heavy damage, and there were 846 deaths, 153 missing and 1,889 injuries. Due to the relatively remote location of many of the affected settlements, aid from the central government took some time to reach some survivors. About 80 percent of houses in Zhongliao were severely damaged or destroyed.
At least 1,074 deaths and 3,648 injuries were reported in Taichung County, where 3,211 houses were destroyed. The Port of Taichung, one of Taiwan's major commercial harbours, was badly damaged and had to be temporarily closed.
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