Earthquake!

Just minutes ago I was watching TV, and I felt my body tremble. I thought it was just me, maybe feeling a bit dizzy. But the trembling became stronger, and things started to rumble all around me. The whole room swayed like a drunkard from side to side, and it lasted for almost a minute or so. It was then I realised what had just happened. My first earthquake here this trip.

It's a frightening feeling. THe moment the quake strikes you completely loose control and time slows as you watch things move uncontrollably around you, youself included. Dogs start to bark moments just before. Sometimes, you can hear the thunderous roar of the ground beneath you vibrate, as the shock wave is sent through the ground and travels further. The noise, movements and aftershocks is really traumatising. You still shake, after the earthquake has passed.

My mum who was already asleep lept out of bed, and quickly opened the door. Standard procedure. This island is prone to earthquakes daily, most are not felt, but dozens every year are enough to be felt (ie above 3 on the Richter scale). 24hrs news channels quickly pointed to the lights and cameras sawying above the recording studios. Reporters rushed to the Central Weather Centre in central Taipei . News here is measured by the minutes. Within 5minutes, reporters standing outside beamed live images back and started to report latest figures, facts and damage. In Taiwanese legends, there is a bull which lives under the ground. It's usually very tame and quiet...but every now and then, it has to flip its body over and turn its back. An earthquake thus is also called ' ground bull turning its body' (地牛翻身). In 1999. an earthquake of 7.9 hit central Taiwan, and killed almost 2500 people. The force literally lifted whole mountains and shifted them metres away from where they were. Sometimes, when a really big one comes, you see ants appearing in nature rushing to and fro in search of a place to go. And people say the sky actually darkens hours before the quake happens. It was a gloomy day whole day today. Forecasters predict other quakes in the days ahead.

Apparently it was a 6.0 earthquake 12km off the coast of Ilan (宜蘭), in North-Eastern Taiwan (around 1 megaton of energy, or same as around 31 Nagasaki nuclear bombs). The east coast is where most tremors occur, as it lies on the ridge of the Philipine and Eurasian tectonic plates. The tremor was a 4 here in Taipei, and because this city is in a flat basin, the strength is magnified.
I don't think there were any injuries at all. No tsunami warning either.

Just people shaken, and stirred from their sleep.