Hualien City, Taiwan Earthquake April 3, 2024

 Hualien City, Taiwan Earthquake on April 3, 2024

Location: Epicenter 15 km south of Hualien City (Eastern Taiwan), in the Pacific Ocean

Figure 1. April 3, 2024 Hualien City Earthquake Shake Map from the USGS shows the shake intensity of the earthquake. United States Geological Survey. (2024). M 7.4 – 15 km S of Hualien City, Taiwan Interactive Map. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/pt24094050/map

Summary

On April 3, 2024, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurred at 7:58 am local time 15 kilometers south of Hualien City, Taiwan (Figure 1). The eruption occurred on a northeast-southwest striking, moderately dipping reverse fault in the Eurasian Plate near the boundary of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea Plates at a depth of 34.8 kilometers (USGS 2024). The earthquake had multiple aftershocks, the strongest being a 6.3 magnitude shock just 13 minutes after the initial quake (USGS 2024). The earthquake also triggered many landslides (Figure 2), as well as a one foot tsunami wave that reached Japan (Chang & Regan 2024).

Figure 2. Landslide damage to a road near Taroko National Park. This photo is an example of the rockfall near Taroko National Park, where most of the fatalities occurred. Xu, An Rong/Bloomberg. (2024). A landslide blocks a road near Taroko National Park in Hualien County yesterday. Taipei Times. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/04/05/2003815973

A tsunami warning was issued in Taiwan, southern Japan, and the Philippines. Flights were grounded at some airports due to the warning, but they were later lifted (Chang & Regan 2024).

The earthquake and its secondary events caused 18 confirmed deaths (Chi & Kuan-hsien 2024) and at least 1,145 injuries (USGS 2024). Over 700 people across Taiwan were trapped in tunnels waiting for rescue teams to arrive (Huang, Yiu, & Shalvey 2024). Many of the fatalities were hikers who were killed by rockfall at the nearby Taroko National Park. A Singaporean couple hiking on the Shakadang Trail in the national park is still considered missing (Chi & Kuan-hsien 2024), though search efforts were eventually suspended (DeAeth 2024).

The earthquake also caused a massive power outage and multiple rail and road closures (Chang & Regan 2024). According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, 371,869 households were affected by the power outage, 125,675 households were affected by a water stoppage, and 80 cell phone base stations had been damaged (Chi, Li-yun, & Yang 2024). An estimated $166 million US dollars was lost in tourism revenue. Some hotels in Hualien City and near Taroko National Park decided to suspend operations until the end of April due to the impacts of the earthquake (Ming-yan & Huang 2024). Over 100 buildings suffered structural damage (Chang & Regan 2024) , notably the Uranus building (Figure 3) in downtown Hualien City (Hsaio 2024).

Figure 3. The Uranus building in Hualien City partially collapsed, ready for demolition. This photo is an example of the earthquake’s destructive impact on the city. Hsaio, B. (2024, Apr. 17). Demolition of building damaged in Hualien earthquake completed. Focus Taiwan. https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202404175001

Discussion

Relative to the earthquake’s magnitude, many sources say that the death toll was surprisingly low, due to Taiwan’s safety measures and preparedness (Chang, Gan, & Watson 2024). Taiwan’s location between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ring of Fire makes it a hotspot for seismic activity (Chang & Regan 2024). The earthquake also took place during rush hour, when many commuters were making their way to work and to school. The congestion of cars on the roadway and people in trains may lead one to assume that the death toll would be higher. However, the earthquake taking place during the day may have been beneficial, because most people were awake and were able to receive the earthquake warning.

Much of the reason for the surprisingly low death toll is due to the response to the devastating 7.7 magnitude Chi-Chi earthquake that took place in 1999. This earthquake took the lives of 2,400 people and injured 10,000 (Chang & Regan 2024).  It caused the collapse of over 100,000 buildings, including 300 schools. Buildings were even completely collapsed in Taipei, which was over 100 miles from the epicenter (Chang & Regan 2024). As a result, the Taiwanese government cracked down on corruption within the construction industry and strengthened building code regulations (Chang & Regan 2024).

Taiwan also has an early warning system comprised of a network of seismic instruments that send warning signals to smart phones and live television within seconds (Bush 2024).

Figure 4. Students in Taiwan taking part in an earthquake safety drill. Taiwan Ministry of Education. (2024). Students take part in an earthquake safety drill. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5937757

Students receive disaster response education and take part in safety drills (Figure 4) across the country on the anniversary of the 1999 earthquake (Chang, Gan, & Watson 2024). During these safety drills, an earthquake alert is simulated and students take shelter in their classrooms. Afterward, they exit the building and each student is accounted for by their teachers (Strong 2024).

Following initial earthquake event on April 3, railway services were reinstated on April 4, just one day later (Chi, Li-yun, & Yang 2024). Additionally, power was restored to most households by the end of the day on April 3, less than 24 hours after the earthquake (Chi, Li-Yun, & Yang 2024). Water and cell phone outages were estimated to be restored by the end of the day on April 5 (Chi, Li-Yun, & Yang). The restoration of these essential services was impressively fast, considering the magnitude of the earthquake.

This is a newscast from ABC News, showing different videos of the impact of the earthquake. At the time of the broadcast, search efforts were still underway and the death toll was still rising. The video ends with details of recovery efforts following the disaster.

Video Source: Huang, J., Yiu, K., & Shalvey, K. (2024, Apr. 4). Taiwan earthquake toll climbs to 10, with hundreds still stranded. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/taiwan-earthquake-death-toll-climbs-10-38-people/story?id=108836898

References

Bush, E. (2024, Apr. 3). Earthquake showed Taiwan was well prepared for a big one – more so than parts of U.S. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/taiwan-earthquake-well-prepared-rcna146243

Chang, W., Gan, N., & Watson, I. (2024, Apr. 5). Taiwan shaken but unbowed as biggest quake in 25 years spotlights preparedness – and lessons learned. CNN News. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/05/asia/taiwan-hualien-earthquake-resilience-dst-intl-hnk/index.html

Chang, W. & Regan, H. (2024, Apr. 3). Dozens trapped in tunnels after Taiwan’s strongest quake in 25 years kills at least nine. CNN News. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/02/asia/taiwan-earthquake-tsunami-warning-intl-hnk/index.html

Chi, C. & Kuan-hsien, W. (2024, Apr. 25). High school student injured in earthquake dies. Focus Taiwan. https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202404250021

DeAeth, D. (14 Apr. 2024). Search called off for foreign couple missing in Taiwan after quake. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5472773

Hsaio, B. (2024, Apr. 17). Demolition of building damaged in Hualien earthquake completed. Focus Taiwan. https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202404175001

Huang, J., Yiu, K., & Shalvey, K. (2024, Apr. 4). Taiwan earthquake toll climbs to 10, with hundreds still stranded. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/taiwan-earthquake-death-toll-climbs-10-38-people/story?id=108836898

Ming-yan, J., & Huang, F. (2024, Apr. 8). Hualien could lose NT $5.3 billion in April tourism income after quake. Focus Taiwan. https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202404080010

Strong, M. (18 Sept. 2024). Taiwan schools to take part in earthquake safety drill. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5937757

Taiwan Ministry of Education. (2024). Students take part in an earthquake safety drill. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5937757

United States Geological Survey (USGS). (2024). M 7.4 – 15 km S of Hualien City, Taiwan. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/pt24094050/executive

United States Geological Survey. (2024). M 7.4 – 15 km S of Hualien City, Taiwan Interactive Map. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/pt24094050/map

Xu, A. (2024, Apr. 5). A landslide blocks a road near Taroko National Park in Hualien County yesterday. Taipei Times. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/04/05/2003815973