The 2010 Kaohsiung earthquake, measuring 6.3 , occurred on March 4 at 8:20 a.m. local time. The

epicenter 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 ...

was located in the mountainous area of

Kaohsiung County Kaohsiung County was a county in southern Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was located in Fongshan City. History Kaohsiung County was established on 6 December 1945 on the territory of Takao Prefecture () shortly after the end ...

(now part of

Kaohsiung City Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of ...

) of the southwestern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. It was the most powerful earthquake in Kaohsiung since 1900. The earthquake did not cause any deaths, but 96 people were injured.

Tectonic setting

Taiwan lies on the boundary between the Eurasian plate and the

Philippine Sea plate The Philippine Sea plate or the Philippine plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part of ...

, which are converging at 80 mm per year. The island is the result of uplift caused by the collision between the northern end of the Luzon Arc and the

continental margin A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental marg ...

of China.

Damage

Electricity

The earthquake caused the tripping of several

power stations in Taiwan Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

, leading to a loss of 1,860 MW of electricity. Some

transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

s and substations on the

electrical grid An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power tran ...

caused

power outage A power outage, also called a blackout, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, a power cut, or a power out is the complete loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an el ...

to 545,066 houses on the island. Electricity was fully restored before 11:30 a.m.

Transportation

A bridge which connects Kaohsiung and Pingtung was blocked when it sank after the earthquake. Some THSR trains were disrupted, and one was de-railed while emergency braking.

Buildings

340 buildings and several schools were damaged by the quake. A religious building and some old structures collapsed.

Factories

A fire, which cost about 100 million TWD (US$ million in ), occurred at a factory of the Everest Textile Co., Ltd (宏遠興業) in

Tainan County Tainan County was a County (Taiwan), county in southern Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was in Xinying District, Sinying City. History Tainan County was established on 7 January 1946 on the territory of Tainan Prefecture () sh ...

(now part of

Tainan City Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the " prefectural capital" for its over 260-year histo ...

), The quake also caused around 1 billion NTD in losses to several manufacturers in a high-tech industrial park.

Aftershocks

The earthquake was followed by several

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...

s; the largest had a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale on April 25.

Government response

While the government continues to monitor the situation, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense dispatched

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron (cavalry), squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section (military unit), section or platoon. Exception ...

to Jiasian.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaohsiung earthquake, 2010 2010 Kaohsiung 2010 earthquakes 2010 in Taiwan 21st century in Kaohsiung 2010 disasters in Taiwan March 2010 in Asia