When the largest earthquake in Taiwan in half a century struck off its east coast, the buildings in the closest city, Hualien, swayed and rocked.
As more than 300 aftershocks rocked the island over the next 24 hours to Thursday morning, the buildings shook again and again.
One of them, the rounded, red brick Uranus Building, which leaned precariously after its first floors collapsed, was mostly drawing curious onlookers.
The building is a reminder of how much Taiwan has prepared for disasters like the magnitude-7.4 earthquake that jolted the island on Wednesday.
Of Taiwan, he added: “And most of these deaths, it seems, have come from rock slides and boulders, rather than building collapses.”
Persons:
”, Daniel Aldrich
Organizations:
Global Resilience, Northeastern University
Locations:
Taiwan, Hualien