Why did the number of victims of the Taiwan earthquake remain low despite its severity?

Despite its intensity, the earthquake that struck Taiwan, fortunately, resulted in only a limited number of casualties.

The earthquake measured 7.4 on the Richter scale, and is the strongest earthquake to hit the island of Taiwan in at least 25 years.

The Taiwanese authorities said that nine people were killed on Wednesday, more than 900 were injured, and 50 hotel employees were missing while heading to a nature reserve.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 15.5 kilometers while people were heading to work and school. The earthquake triggered a tsunami warning in southern Japan and the Philippines, but the warning was later cancelled.

When compared to the earthquakes that occurred recently in the Middle East and North Africa, the death toll and injuries are considered low.

The Kahramanmaraş earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck parts of Turkey and Syria, killing tens of thousands of people in February 2023. Last September, an earthquake struck the Al Haouz region in Morocco, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, killing about three thousand people.

A report published on the university’s website indicates NortheasternBased in the US state of Massachusetts, the low number of deaths that was recorded compared to the strength of the earthquake is evidence of the country’s preparedness, according to Daniel Aldrich, professor of public policy at Northeastern University, who specializes in recovery from natural disasters.

He added that what we are seeing is a combination of management that has kept the death toll relatively low. “The authorities have long recognized the threat posed by seismic hazards, and have invested in a variety of measures such as strict building codes,” he said.

Aldrich described Taiwan’s disaster management as “top-down,” meaning that officials update and enforce building codes, develop plans such as shelters and food and water distribution, among other things in anticipation of future shocks, and allocate resources such as equipping hospitals and other medical resources.

The earthquake was felt by all residents of Taiwan, and more than a hundred aftershocks affected this island, which has a population of 23 million people.

He added that there are also “bottom-up” policies in place, which means “communities work together, trust each other, and plan for shocks, mapping evacuations and determining who needs help based on their local needs.”

“The best approach to disaster management and preparedness combines these two policies for a comprehensive strategy,” Aldrich says.

It appears that strict construction standards and widespread awareness of disasters contributed to avoiding a major disaster on the island, which is often exposed to earthquakes because they occur near the intersection of two tectonic plates, according to an Agence France-Presse report.

The academic specializing in natural disaster management recalls previous earthquakes that “occurred in Haiti, India, and China, all of which were hit by earthquakes of similar strength, but Haiti lost 220,000 people, India 15,000 people, and China about 90,000 people.”

He points out that in Taiwan, “you see a lot of people in evacuation shelters… it is clear that they know where they are going… and you do not see people trying to return to unstable buildings, or those that have partially collapsed.”

Wu Chen-fu, director of the Taipei Seismological Center, told reporters, “The earthquake is close to land and shallow. It was felt throughout Taiwan and on the islands,” adding that it was “the strongest since the one that struck the island in September 1999.”

Then, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed 2,400 people, the worst natural disaster in the island’s history.

“Most people were asleep when the 1999 earthquake happened but I wasn’t, so I felt it clearly. It was very dangerous and much more dangerous than this time,” Zhang recalls.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.5.. How did Japan prepare to avoid disasters?

At the beginning of the new year, a strong earthquake struck Japan, causing buildings to collapse and destroy roads, resulting in the death of 92 people, according to the official toll as of Thursday.

Aldrich confirms that most deaths in Taiwan so far have been due to rockslides.

All the deaths occurred in the Hualien area, near the epicenter of the earthquake in the east of the island, according to the National Fire Protection Agency.

Among the dead were three who died on a walking path where they were crushed by rocks, while three others were killed in their cars that were hit by landslides.

Rescuers were able to extract about fifty survivors from under the rubble, concrete blocks, steel bars, bricks and tangled electrical wires, according to Agence France-Presse.