Taiwan's ability to withstand earthquakes has been tested over time

Taiwan's earthquake preparedness is the result of decades of organizing and working to build structural resilience. But there are still some damaged buildings, showing that things still need to be done.

NHK World correspondent Sekiya Satoshi traveled to the affected areas in eastern Taiwan after the earthquake, and said the quake-stricken city's ability to recover was amazing.

My team and I went to Hualien City, near the epicenter of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake. What surprised me was that the day after the earthquake, shops and cafes remained open, and it seemed like life had returned to normal. The city's largest night market also reopened that day.

The largest night market in the quake-hit city of Hualien reopened the day after the 7.2-magnitude quake.

Not long ago, I also covered the 7.6 magnitude Noto Peninsula earthquake that struck Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan on New Year's Day. In the city of Wajima, which was severely damaged, I saw many houses that had completely collapsed. Of course, these were different earthquakes in different places, so you can't make a direct comparison. But the durability of Hualien City really amazed me.

We must remind everyone that Taiwan is no stranger to earthquakes. A powerful hurricane in 1999 killed more than 2,400 people. Subsequently, Taiwan introduced building codes that made new buildings more earthquake-resistant. Many of the buildings affected this time were built before 1999.

However, we also saw some buildings that had sustained significant damage, including one that looked like it was almost falling into the street. This nine-story building in downtown Hualien leaned dramatically after the earthquake, temporarily trapping people and causing one death.

A nine-story building in downtown Hualien, near the epicenter, bent dramatically after the quake.

Wada Akira, professor emeritus at Tokyo Institute of Technology, told us that many of the structures damaged in this quake were vulnerable because their lower levels had been shifted to allow for the construction of market stalls.

“People want to remove the columns on the first floor and make open space for the street. Most of the damaged buildings had this type of construction, which makes the lower floors weaker than the upper floors. These floors then collapsed after the first floor columns fell,” Wada said. “The columns should be Strong enough to bear the weight of the building.

Thanks to another expert, Ikajo Kohjo, NHK World has obtained a video demonstrating this principle.

First, we see what happens when an earthquake hits a building where the basement is unchanged. We then see what happens when two basement walls are removed to create an open space at street level.

Watch the video 0:20Experiment shows that a building with fewer walls on the first floor can be poor in terms of earthquake resistance.

In Taiwan, officials introduced a program to retrofit buildings constructed before the devastating 1999 earthquake.

“The Taiwan government has a special program to support building owners to conduct seismic assessments. If the result shows that the building indeed suffers from a lack of earthquake resistance, the government will then provide subsidies to help building owners upgrade,” said Kequan Tsai, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Professor of Structural Engineering at National Taiwan University.

Cai said it was not easy to fully implement. But while some owners are resistant to signing, he says there are clear examples where it has paid off, including a hotel in Hualien that was consolidated in 2016.

“From some pictures taken before and after the earthquake, it appears that the building is functioning well while the building across the street was destroyed,” he said. “With a little investment, building performance can be dramatically improved.”

Ke-quan Tsai believes that Taiwan should accelerate its efforts to evaluate and upgrade buildings to confront future earthquakes.

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