Terrifying episode, but life goes on in Taipei

Business as usual in Taiwan’s capital despite damage caused by quake

- Yip Wai Yee

Since I was posted to Taiwan 1/2 years ago, I have felt a number of minor tremors.

They were usually over within seconds, and sometimes so mild that I could not be sure if they were earthquakes.

On the morning of April 3, however, the ceiling lamp in my New Taipei apartment swayed violently.

My glass room divider rattled.

My mug did not tip over, but almost all the milk tea inside it flew out and spilt across my table.

I admit, I was terrified.

The floor shook hard for what felt like an entire minute.

As a Singaporean who had never experienced this, I realised I should have been better prepared on what to do. Should I have left the building instead of staying put? I wasn't sure.

During the next hour, I experienced at least six more aftershocks. One never gets used to them, I thought.

The magnitude-74 earthquake that had struck the waters off Hualien county in eastern Taiwan is the island's strongest in 25 years, killing nine people and injuring more than 900.

In 1999, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake hit central Taiwan in the middle of the night and killed more than 2,400 people.

The April 3 temblor struck at a depth of 15.5km shortly before 8am, just as people were heading to work and school, setting off a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.

Local TV news outlets flashed horrifying footage of collapsed buildings in Hualien, with reports of people, including a young boy, trapped inside the structures for hours before being pulled out.

Massive landslides were also triggered throughout Hualien's mountains, with a viral video clip showing how one caused huge dust clouds to billow up into the sky.