Monday, November 5, 2012

Feeling Shaky


Disaster preparedness is one of those items that usually resides somewhere at the bottom of my to-do list.  Feeling our apartment building sway back and forth last night bumped the “figure out what to do in an earthquake” task to the top of my list. 

Not to worry, the earthquake we experienced was minor and as far as I know did not disrupt life in any way here in Taipei.  The physical sensation was much different than I expected, probably due to watching too many Hollywood style earthquakes in movies.  I felt instantly dizzy and almost drunk because of the building subtly swaying back and forth.  It wasn't a shake or even a quake as I had expected.  This may be because we are on the 5th floor – I’m not sure how it felt on the ground. 


 The quake registered a 4.7 on the Richter scale, which would make headlines back home in Missouri, but hardly made the news here in Taiwan. In 1999, there was a massive quake in central Taiwan that killed thousands and injured tens of thousands.  Over 50,000 buildings were completely destroyed, causing USD$10 billion in damage.  It was the worst earthquake in 100 years and exposed the country’s lack of preparedness.  Since that terrible quake, known as the “921 Earthquake”, construction and emergency preparedness have greatly improved.

Damage after the 921 earthquake

  Since we are now living on the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, we should probably figure out what the heck to do with ourselves if we experience a major quake while we are here.  Luckily, there is an emergency shelter underneath the large park that is very near to our apartment.  Other than that, we’ll make sure to have extra food and water in case of water lines being broken and electricity outage that will make food purchases difficult.  Should keep a helmet on Abel’s head 24/7 just in case? Probably not, but hopefully I won’t be caught as off guard next time the building sways.

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