Shaken to the Core

By Douglas Habecker

The small island of Taiwan was created long ago by the collision between the earth's Eurasion and Philippine Sea plates, which pushed upwards as they came together. As the people of central Taiwan were so terribly reminded of at 1:47 a.m. on September 21, the island and the earth continues to shift and move as those plates still move against each other.

Long-time predictions of another cataclysmic earthquake of the sort which seems to strike the island every 50 or 60 years finally came true on that night, when a massive quake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, echoed out of its epicenter near the quaint hillside town of Chi Chi in Nantou County. The seismic violence spread destruction and tragedy, primarily through Taichung city and Taichung and Nantou counties but also all the way up to Taipei City. Only southern Taiwan was spared.

Overnight, small cities, towns and townships with names like Puli, Tali, Taiping, Chungliao and Tungshih became known around the world for the tragedy visiting people in those places.

The Taiwanese people continue to tally the toll of the 921 Earthquake, as it is now called. The death toll has topped 2,000, including those who were killed in thousands of collapsed buildings. Thousands of more residents were injured and collapsed or severely damaged buildings left an estimated 100,000 people homeless. Many more fearful and traumatized residents chose to remain outside, living in tents, in the weeks following as 10,000 aftershocks -- from unfelt to 6.8-scale tremors -- continued to rock the ground.

In the days immediately following the quake, images of desperate search, rescue and relief efforts were commonplace. Individual stories of both triumphant survival and heart-breaking death emerged and mesmerized the island. In the weeks that have followed, the people of central Taiwan have continued to deal with the destruction, mobilizing to provide shelters and relief
supplies to the homeless and needy, tearing down and hauling away rubble from toppled buildings, offering comfort to victims, as well as coming to grips with the more subtle psychological scars left on many people.


In such tragic times, the best qualities of people from around the island and the world have shone through. Taiwanese from all walks of life immediately and overwhelmingly
	responded to the plight of fellow citizens, donating and delivering tons of supplies, money and even blood; distributing food and aid; housing the homeless and making other gestures. From overseas, the response was also immediate, as rescue teams and relief supplies poured in from a diversity of countries, which completely disregarded the usual political and diplomatic concerns to assist fellow humans.

Just as exemplary has been the attitudes of most victims themselves, who have displayed amazing fortitude, generosity, hope and even sympathy for others during times when they have suffered staggering losses of loved ones, property and possessions.

For years to come, the people of this island will continue to deal with the greatest natural disaster in Taiwan's recorded history. Perhaps the biggest comfort as they meet this on-going challenge is the knowledge and pride in the fact that the people of Taiwan are working together with arguably the greatest unity of purpose that this island has ever witnessed. That fact alone is the greatest guarantee that Taiwan will go on, successfully and stronger than ever.

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