The 1959 Hengchun earthquake () struck the southern tip of Taiwan on August 15. With a
Richter magnitude
The Richter scale (), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and pres ...
of 7.1, it was the
tenth deadliest earthquake in twentieth century Taiwan, killing 16 or 17 people.
Earthquake
The earthquake occurred at 16:57
CST on Saturday 15 August 1959, with an
epicentre
The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates.
Determination
The primary purpose of a s ...
east-southeast of
Cape Eluanbi
Cape Eluanbi or Oluanpi, also known by other names, is the southernmost point on the island of Taiwan. It is located in within the Hengchun Township in Pingtung County.
Names
''Éluánbí'' is the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunci ...
, the southern tip of the island of Taiwan. The shock had a focal depth of . A
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
high hit both the southeastern and southwestern coasts of
Hengchun
Hengchun is a Township (Taiwan), township located on the southern tip of the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is the southernmost township in Taiwan. Hengchun is also the only urban township in the southern part of Pingtung Coun ...
. The earthquake was felt throughout Taiwan and also in the
Penghu
The Penghu ( , Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, about west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Ch ...
islands off Taiwan's western coast.
Damage
According to Taiwan's
Central Weather Bureau
The Central Weather Administration (CWA; ) is the government meteorological research and forecasting institution of Taiwan (the Republic of China). In addition to meteorology, the Central Weather Administration also makes astronomical observation ...
the casualties and damage were as follows:
[
*17 dead
*33 seriously injured
*35 lightly injured
*1,214 dwellings completely destroyed
*1,375 dwellings partially destroyed
Due to Hengchun's exposed position on the southern tip of Taiwan, residents frequently built heavy houses of stone to counter both the effects of ]typhoon
A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
s and the seasonal northwesterly monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
winds. These structures effectively resisted the effects of wind, but fared poorly in earthquakes, collapsing and trapping the occupants.[
The shock occurred in the late afternoon, which meant that many people were outdoors when it struck, lessening casualties from building collapse. The estimated cost of the damage (in 1959 ]New Taiwan Dollars
The New Taiwan dollar (code: TWD; symbol: NT$, also abbreviated as NT), or simply the Taiwan dollar, is the official currency of the Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main ...
) was NT$24,111,920 for private housing, and NT$6,127,000 for damaged or collapsed school buildings, giving a total of just over NT$30m.[
]
See also
* List of earthquakes in 1959
*List of earthquakes in Taiwan
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
External links
*
{{Earthquakes in Taiwan
Earthquakes in Taiwan
Hengchun Earthquake, 1959
Hengchun
Hengchun is a Township (Taiwan), township located on the southern tip of the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is the southernmost township in Taiwan. Hengchun is also the only urban township in the southern part of Pingtung Coun ...
Tsunamis in Taiwan
1959 disasters in Taiwan