A lesson from Taiwan in quake resilience

• Recently, Taiwan was struck by an earthquake of 7.4 magnitude.
• In the last two decades, major earthquakes have occurred in many parts of the world including Indonesia, Japan, China, Italy, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ecuador, Mexico, Morocco, and the Turkey-Syria border.

Highlights:

• The spatial distribution of earthquakes is explained by the theory of plate tectonics,
  • Which explains how the Earth’s outermost layer, the lithosphere, is broken into 15 major plates which are constantly moving relative to each other.
  • This is why powerful earthquakes are concentrated along convergent plate boundaries like the Himalayas, a tectonic product of the convergence of the Indian and Eurasian plates.
• The earthquake in Nepal in 2015 caused severe devastation in central Nepal, but spared India. The region around Manali in Himachal Pradesh was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 recently.
• Taiwan, which is a country of strong earthquakes.
• It was formed at a convergent boundary of the Philippine and Eurasian plates in the western Pacific Ocean.
  • The Philippine Sea plate is moving northwest towards the Eurasian plate, which is faster than the motion of the Indian plate.
• Today, Taiwan’s earthquake preparedness is among the most advanced in the world.
  • Taiwan has the most advanced earthquake-monitoring network and early warning systems.
  • Widespread awareness campaigns and safety drills on earthquakes along with the government's constant update on earthquake safety requirements have improved the public’s understanding of earthquake risks.
• Taiwan has been able to reach sound scientific judgements based on how severe the shaking would be in each location.
  • Taiwan’s most iconic building, Taipei 101, escaped damage during the latest earthquake.

What India can do:

• As India is going through a major phase of infrastructural expansion in many tectonically unstable regions, earthquake safety should be of particular concern. All infrastructural projects must comply with seismic safety regulations.
• The Taiwan earthquake provides important lessons for India.
  • These include following seismic codes, constructing safer engineered structures, and overcoming inadequacies in the enforcement and non-compliance of seismic codes.
  • In some parts of India, traditional architectural styles possessing earthquake resistivity can be rediscovered and encouraged.