6.4 Earthquake Hits Taiwan (March, 2010)

A 6.4 magnitude quake hit southern Taiwan at 8:18 in the morning. Its epicenter was located near Kaohsiung. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 3.1 miles. This area is still also in recovery from a typhoon that occurred in August.

There have been over 120 aftershocks since the earthquake, notes the New York Times. Some of the aftershocks measured 4.7 and 5.1.

There have been 12 injuries reported since the earthquake. The earthquake started 5 fires. One of them caused over $3 million dollars in damages to a textile plant in Tainan.

Subway and high-speed rail services were temporarily stopped to check for damage from the earthquake. After the safety levels have been deemed normal, service will start up again.

Some areas of the Southern part of Taiwan also lost power after the earthquake, as did parts of Taipei. Telephone service has also been interrupted in some parts of the country.

The capital of Taiwan, Taipei, felt the earthquake. The NY Times reports that buildings there swayed for a few minutes.

This earthquake hit at a time when schools were in session in Taiwan. The school children must have been quite alarmed when they felt the shaking from the quake.

The Wall Street Journal reports that some of the stocks of the technology companies in Taiwan have decreased in value since the earthquake hit.

Before this earthquake, a quake in Taiwan with a magnitude of 7.6 in 1999 caused the death of over 2,400 people.

All of the earthquakes occurring lately are starting to seem a bit alarming. Haiti, Chile, and now Taiwan have all experienced significant earthquakes in 2010. The United States is a bit overdue for an earthquake in the Western regions of the country according to some earthquake experts.

Thus our country watches the damage occurring in other places and wonders what it will be like here if a big quake hits. Our building codes are much stricter than those in some other countries. Let's hope that is enough to curtail the damage if a big earthquake ever strikes here again.

Southern California had it last huge earthquake in 1857, with a magnitude of 7.9. San Francisco had a large earthquake in 1906 that was quite destructive to the city.

Only time will tell which country will have the next big earthquake. Right now things seen a bit "Biblical" with so many quakes in quick succession.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/world/asia/05taiwan.html?hp

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/03/taiwan-earthquake-2010-st_n_484993.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703862704575100252339864376.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/09/opinion/oe-jordan9