6 ms·

6.4 Earthquake hits Taiwan

126 points by singularity2001 9y ago

imrehg 9y ago
I have many friends living there, and loads of them say this was the longest/strongest they remember feeling. Hope everyone is okay, the place is set up to be resilient, but you never know until things happen....
- imron 9y ago
  Yep, it was strongest I've felt in 4 years of living here. There has also been a bunch of smaller earthquakes happening regularly over the last few days.
- HumanDrivenDev 9y ago
  the place is set up to be resilient I wish that were more true. In 2016, 116 people died in a building that collapsed in Tainan. "Reuters witnesses at the scene of the collapse have seen large rectangular, commercial cans of cooking-oil packed inside wall cavities exposed by the damage, apparently having been used as building material. Taiwan media has also reported the presence of polystyrene in supporting beams, mixed in with concrete."[1] --- "The municipality has mobilized a team of engineers and architects to survey the city and tag potentially dangerous buildings, marking at least 340 buildings at risk in the event of another earthquake. Of these 340, only 319 have been completely surveyed, with 48 found to be highly threatened buildings and 45 threatened buildings. The Kaohsiung City Government also designated two engineers to determine its threat level in the event of an earthquake, with only 14 at-risk buildings reported. All 14 have been surveyed, with two considered highly threatened and one threatened in the event of an earthquake, the city government said." [2] --- It's very likely more people will die in future earthquakes due to cost-cutting construction. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-quake-taiwan-crime/taiwan-developer-in-custody-after-deadly-quake-fells-building-idUSKCN0VI0DU https://www.reuters.com/article/us-quake-taiwan-crime/taiwan... [2] http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/02/14/2003639357 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/02/14/2...
rangersanger 9y ago
I was on a video chat with an engineer in Taichung when it happened. The bicycle hanging from his ceiling was shaking pretty aggressively. He guessed it was a 5 and was on the third floor of his 40 year old townhouse across the island from the epicenter.
mankash666 9y ago
This is precisely where you should be sharing a news article versus merely pointing to data. People want to know the impact it had, not just a number/value. Here's a reliable source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42966916 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42966916
- haylem 9y ago
  I disagree. The OP pointed to the perfect source for his title, showing the origin of the data. The Richter scale measures and describes impacts, so you already know the impact from the 6.4 rating itself. For 6.0 to 6.9: > Damage to a moderate number of well-built structures in populated areas. Earthquake-resistant structures survive with slight to moderate damage. Poorly designed structures receive moderate to severe damage. Felt in wider areas; up to hundreds of miles/kilometers from the epicenter. Strong to violent shaking in epicentral area. Also, your link added very little info, and the only mention of the building toppling (the infamous impacts) are in the title, with no reports, photos, or witness accounts (as of yet). I like that the OP didn't fall into voyeurism, that the title was enough to inform me that a strong earthquake happened in Taiwan, and that the source was enough to confirm it. For the rest, I'll have the evening news, or BBC articles, but I don't think I need them here on HN or that they were needed for this particular piece of information, at this point in time.
  - reustle 9y ago
    Every countries and even regions building practices are different and will be affected differently. Even the distribution of new vs old buildings will take part in how much damage is actually done. USGS doesn't have any of that info and it's just as important as the power of the event itself.
    - davidw 9y ago
      Yep - a 6.4 in central Italy with lots of old stone buildings would be very deadly. In Japan, it'd do much less damage.
  - roywiggins 9y ago
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
gtt 9y ago
Is it going to affect hardware prices?
- nugi 9y ago
  You are downvoted, but after concern for the affected twianeese, this was also my first thought. And most likely some impact is inevitable. Signifigant or not, to our admittedly biased, career/hobby remains to be determined.
  - alsetmusic 9y ago
    > You are downvoted, but after concern for the affected twianeese, this was also my first thought. This is relevant. Prices soared across the industry after the 1999 quake. I believe prices rose several hundred dollars for individual PCs for most / all manufacturers. https://www.wired.com/1999/09/pc-prices-ram-upward/ https://www.wired.com/1999/09/pc-prices-ram-upward/
- cjbprime 9y ago
  I think the Taiwanese companies we can think of (huge ODMs like Quanta and Foxconn) do almost all of their manufacturing in China, not Taiwan. Edit: oops, not Samsung of course.
  - skrebbel 9y ago
    How is Samsung Taiwanese?
  - garmaine 9y ago
    Samsung is Korean
  - Cyph0n 9y ago
    TSMC is based in Taiwan... If that's not 'huge', I'm not sure what is.
    - devy 9y ago
vgf 9y ago
I'm visiting Taipei at the moment. Received these alerts on the phone a few minutes before the earthquake woke me up around midnight: https://i.imgur.com/v08yD9l.png https://i.imgur.com/v08yD9l.png
- cpv 9y ago
  Are they from a specific service, or it's a national/governmental system?
  - xucheng 9y ago
    It’s from Taiwan’s earthquake early warning system. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_warning_system https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_warning_system
    - vgf 9y ago
      An annoying detail with the iOS implementation is the lack of a "copy message text" function - I wanted to paste the text into Google Translate...
      - xucheng 9y ago
        The first one you received (the one is the bottom) said there is an earthquake in progress expecting certain areas to feel the shocks with level 4. The next one is the earthquake information after it happens.
      - vmarsy 9y ago
        As a workaround: Google Translate, at least on Android, has a camera button on the bottom left of the text box, there you can do live translation of what's on the camera (AR style above the original text), or simply upload an existing image from your device. You can upload that screenshot and see the translation.
      - emmelaich 9y ago
        I think if you took a screenshot you could then submit the image to Google translate.
elliotec 9y ago
>>> The earthquake happened on the second anniversary of another 6.4 magnitude one in 2016, which killed 116 people. That's odd and interesting
- drubio 9y ago
  If you find it odd an interesting, there was a similar coincidence in Mexico, two quakes hitting on the same date, but 32 years apart: - On Sep 19, 2017 - 7.1 magnitude https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Central_Mexico_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Central_Mexico_earthquake - On Sep 19, 1985 - 8.0 magnitude https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake
- pirocks 9y ago
  Odds of two people in a room having the same birthday?
  - pirocks 9y ago
    Where the room is Taiwan, and the people in the room are the earthquakes in Taiwan.
skyfree 9y ago
Taiwan #1
samat 9y ago
Would it affect any hi tech production like hard drives or memory?
m104 9y ago
If you find yourself looking for a quick way to gauge the impact to people and property from an earthquake like this, I suggest you look for the USGS's PAGER report: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000chhc#pager https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000chhc... They put this type of report together for each significant quake and it will inform you very quickly about how concerned you should be. In this case, both the Estimated Fatalities and Estimated Economic Losses are in the green bands, so nearly everyone should be ok even if they feel a bit shaken (ahem).
- superchink 9y ago
  Thank you. This is exactly what most people need, I feel. Much appreciated and very useful.
alainchabat 9y ago
Will China send them help of any kind since they consider Taiwan a part of the country?
- HumanDrivenDev 9y ago
  http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2132463/taipei-rejects-beijings-offer-help-earthquake-rescue http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/213... They offered, but it was refused.
eric_khun 9y ago
Could an earthquake affect any space rocket launch? (like Space X Falcon one coming in few minutes?)

I have many friends living there, and loads of them say this was the longest/strongest they remember feeling. Hope everyone is okay, the place is set up to be resilient, but you never know until things happen....

imron 9y ago
Yep, it was strongest I've felt in 4 years of living here. There has also been a bunch of smaller earthquakes happening regularly over the last few days.
HumanDrivenDev 9y ago
the place is set up to be resilient I wish that were more true. In 2016, 116 people died in a building that collapsed in Tainan. "Reuters witnesses at the scene of the collapse have seen large rectangular, commercial cans of cooking-oil packed inside wall cavities exposed by the damage, apparently having been used as building material. Taiwan media has also reported the presence of polystyrene in supporting beams, mixed in with concrete."[1] --- "The municipality has mobilized a team of engineers and architects to survey the city and tag potentially dangerous buildings, marking at least 340 buildings at risk in the event of another earthquake. Of these 340, only 319 have been completely surveyed, with 48 found to be highly threatened buildings and 45 threatened buildings. The Kaohsiung City Government also designated two engineers to determine its threat level in the event of an earthquake, with only 14 at-risk buildings reported. All 14 have been surveyed, with two considered highly threatened and one threatened in the event of an earthquake, the city government said." [2] --- It's very likely more people will die in future earthquakes due to cost-cutting construction. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-quake-taiwan-crime/taiwan-developer-in-custody-after-deadly-quake-fells-building-idUSKCN0VI0DU https://www.reuters.com/article/us-quake-taiwan-crime/taiwan... [2] http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/02/14/2003639357 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/02/14/2...

rangersanger 9y ago

I was on a video chat with an engineer in Taichung when it happened. The bicycle hanging from his ceiling was shaking pretty aggressively. He guessed it was a 5 and was on the third floor of his 40 year old townhouse across the island from the epicenter.

mankash666 9y ago

This is precisely where you should be sharing a news article versus merely pointing to data. People want to know the impact it had, not just a number/value. Here's a reliable source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42966916 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42966916

haylem 9y ago
I disagree. The OP pointed to the perfect source for his title, showing the origin of the data. The Richter scale measures and describes impacts, so you already know the impact from the 6.4 rating itself. For 6.0 to 6.9: > Damage to a moderate number of well-built structures in populated areas. Earthquake-resistant structures survive with slight to moderate damage. Poorly designed structures receive moderate to severe damage. Felt in wider areas; up to hundreds of miles/kilometers from the epicenter. Strong to violent shaking in epicentral area. Also, your link added very little info, and the only mention of the building toppling (the infamous impacts) are in the title, with no reports, photos, or witness accounts (as of yet). I like that the OP didn't fall into voyeurism, that the title was enough to inform me that a strong earthquake happened in Taiwan, and that the source was enough to confirm it. For the rest, I'll have the evening news, or BBC articles, but I don't think I need them here on HN or that they were needed for this particular piece of information, at this point in time.
- reustle 9y ago
  Every countries and even regions building practices are different and will be affected differently. Even the distribution of new vs old buildings will take part in how much damage is actually done. USGS doesn't have any of that info and it's just as important as the power of the event itself.
  - davidw 9y ago
    Yep - a 6.4 in central Italy with lots of old stone buildings would be very deadly. In Japan, it'd do much less damage.
- roywiggins 9y ago

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

gtt 9y ago

Is it going to affect hardware prices?

nugi 9y ago
You are downvoted, but after concern for the affected twianeese, this was also my first thought. And most likely some impact is inevitable. Signifigant or not, to our admittedly biased, career/hobby remains to be determined.
- alsetmusic 9y ago
  > You are downvoted, but after concern for the affected twianeese, this was also my first thought. This is relevant. Prices soared across the industry after the 1999 quake. I believe prices rose several hundred dollars for individual PCs for most / all manufacturers. https://www.wired.com/1999/09/pc-prices-ram-upward/ https://www.wired.com/1999/09/pc-prices-ram-upward/
cjbprime 9y ago
I think the Taiwanese companies we can think of (huge ODMs like Quanta and Foxconn) do almost all of their manufacturing in China, not Taiwan. Edit: oops, not Samsung of course.
- skrebbel 9y ago
  How is Samsung Taiwanese?
- garmaine 9y ago
  Samsung is Korean
- Cyph0n 9y ago
  TSMC is based in Taiwan... If that's not 'huge', I'm not sure what is.
  - devy 9y ago

vgf 9y ago

I'm visiting Taipei at the moment. Received these alerts on the phone a few minutes before the earthquake woke me up around midnight: https://i.imgur.com/v08yD9l.png https://i.imgur.com/v08yD9l.png

cpv 9y ago
Are they from a specific service, or it's a national/governmental system?
- xucheng 9y ago
  It’s from Taiwan’s earthquake early warning system. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_warning_system https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_warning_system
  - vgf 9y ago
    An annoying detail with the iOS implementation is the lack of a "copy message text" function - I wanted to paste the text into Google Translate...
    - xucheng 9y ago
      The first one you received (the one is the bottom) said there is an earthquake in progress expecting certain areas to feel the shocks with level 4. The next one is the earthquake information after it happens.
    - vmarsy 9y ago
      As a workaround: Google Translate, at least on Android, has a camera button on the bottom left of the text box, there you can do live translation of what's on the camera (AR style above the original text), or simply upload an existing image from your device. You can upload that screenshot and see the translation.
    - emmelaich 9y ago
      I think if you took a screenshot you could then submit the image to Google translate.

elliotec 9y ago

>>> The earthquake happened on the second anniversary of another 6.4 magnitude one in 2016, which killed 116 people. That's odd and interesting

drubio 9y ago
If you find it odd an interesting, there was a similar coincidence in Mexico, two quakes hitting on the same date, but 32 years apart: - On Sep 19, 2017 - 7.1 magnitude https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Central_Mexico_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Central_Mexico_earthquake - On Sep 19, 1985 - 8.0 magnitude https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake
pirocks 9y ago
Odds of two people in a room having the same birthday?
- pirocks 9y ago
  Where the room is Taiwan, and the people in the room are the earthquakes in Taiwan.

skyfree 9y ago

Taiwan #1

samat 9y ago

Would it affect any hi tech production like hard drives or memory?

m104 9y ago

If you find yourself looking for a quick way to gauge the impact to people and property from an earthquake like this, I suggest you look for the USGS's PAGER report: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000chhc#pager https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us1000chhc... They put this type of report together for each significant quake and it will inform you very quickly about how concerned you should be. In this case, both the Estimated Fatalities and Estimated Economic Losses are in the green bands, so nearly everyone should be ok even if they feel a bit shaken (ahem).

superchink 9y ago
Thank you. This is exactly what most people need, I feel. Much appreciated and very useful.

alainchabat 9y ago

Will China send them help of any kind since they consider Taiwan a part of the country?

HumanDrivenDev 9y ago
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2132463/taipei-rejects-beijings-offer-help-earthquake-rescue http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/213... They offered, but it was refused.

eric_khun 9y ago

Could an earthquake affect any space rocket launch? (like Space X Falcon one coming in few minutes?)