Taiwan Today

In November 2011, Taiwan put the Marine Cable Hosted Observatory, the nation’s first undersea seismic observation system, into service. On the seafloor off the country’s seismically active northeast coast, the system’s tsunami sensors, seismometers and other devices transmit data to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) over a 45-kilometer cable. Since electronic signals travel faster than seismic waves and tsunamis, the system gives Taiwan a life-saving 10-minute warning for tsunamis coming from that direction as well as a 10-second warning for earthquakes.

Taiwan is one of the few countries to have invested in such a network. The system was constructed through the combined effort of the CWB, Academia Sinica, the country’s foremost research institute, and several universities. The CWB has drawn up plans to extend the system to 200 kilometers offshore, which would allow 30 seconds of early warning for earthquakes and 30 minutes for tsunamis. The Legislative Yuan is currently working to establish a funding mechanism for the extension.

Lee Chao-shing (李昭興), a professor at National Taiwan Ocean University’s Institute of Applied Geosciences, points out that though they are infrequent, Taiwan has indeed been hit by tsunamis a few times. “If a tsunami does come, the system would give Taiwan extra minutes to turn off its nuclear reactors, evacuate residents and save lives,” he says. Lee estimates that casualties could be reduced by 90 percent if people are given five to 10 minutes to evacuate before a tsunami arrives.

While tsunamis are rare, earthquakes are quite familiar to people in Taiwan. In fact, Taiwan’s location between the Eurasian and Philippine tectonic plates on the circum-Pacific seismic belt, or Ring of Fire, means that earthquakes are a constant threat. Nevertheless, most of the tens of thousands of earthquakes recorded in Taiwan every year are unnoticeable and cause minimal or no damage.

Although major earthquakes have occasionally caused great damage and loss of life in Taiwan, they have also played a role in pushing the local development of seismology. In fact, Taiwan is globally recognized as one of the world’s most advanced countries in the fields of seismic research and monitoring. With about 800 seismic monitoring stations, including 109 devoted to tracking large movements of the earth’s crust, the country has the highest concentration of such facilities in the world.

The dense collection of monitoring stations and their ability to transmit data instantly helped Taiwan establish a system that evaluates and distributes critical information on the magnitude, epicenter and local intensity of earthquakes immediately after they strike. According to CWB Director-General Shin Tzay-chyn (辛在勤), the system is the world’s fastest. “We can’t forecast earthquakes, so there’s not much we can do about damage near the epicenters when earthquakes take place,” Shin says. “What we can do is determine which information is critical for use in managing disasters and minimizing further damage.” With such information, trains, for example, can be stopped to avoid going into an area where the tracks might have been damaged, and rescue and relief operations can be organized immediately.

The CWB started researching earthquake warning systems in 1994 and put the Taiwan Rapid Earthquake Information Release System (TREIRS) into service three years later. When the September 21, 1999 earthquake struck, it took the CWB just 102 seconds to receive data from the monitoring stations and analyze the information to determine the quake’s epicenter, strength and depth. After the analysis was complete, the CWB began issuing timely warnings through TREIRS, which meant that fire departments were ready to go 10 minutes after the quake and the Central Emergency Operation Center could begin overseeing the response within 20 minutes. According to K.W. Kuo (郭鎧紋), director of the CWB’s Seismological Center, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey told him that collecting raw data from monitoring systems in the United States would have taken approximately 30 minutes.

The monitoring system has continued to improve since the 921 Earthquake, as the Seismological Center can now evaluate raw data from sensing stations in 30 seconds. “The efficiency of our system relies on the large number of monitoring devices,” Kuo says. “More than 1,000 seismometers, sensors and GPS systems have equipped Taiwan with the world’s most extensive seismic monitoring system.”

Earthquakes and tsunamis are not the only natural disasters that Taiwan must deal with, as typhoons, landslides and floods also cause significant personal harm and economic loss. The usual three to four typhoons that strike Taiwan each year cause an average combined loss of NT$20 billion (US$667 million). Chen Liang-chun (陳亮全) is director of the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR). Chen notes the World Bank’s 2005 survey Natural Disaster Hotspots—A Global Risk Analysis found that Taiwan is more vulnerable to natural hazards than any other country in the world. According to the survey, the most common hazards afflicting the world are debris flows like landslides and mudslides, earthquakes, droughts, floods and typhoons. Around 90 percent of Taiwan’s residents face the potential threat of three of those hazards, while 73 percent are threatened by two, the survey found.

Until recent decades, Taiwan devoted most of its resources to coping with the loss of life and property caused by natural disasters rather than to taking action to prevent and reduce their impact. The National Science Council (NSC) began promoting and funding university research on preventing large-scale disasters in 1982. “Both the government and the private sector began to research disaster prevention and response,” Chen says. “The result, however, turned out to be less than adequate.” One of the reasons for that inadequacy, Chen explains, was the lack of a lead agency responsible for organizing and directing projects run by individual agencies and universities. The lack of organization led to redundancy and missing links, as each government unit and school focused on conducting its own research. To coordinate research efforts, in 1997 the NSC initiated the National Science and Technology Program for Hazards Mitigation, which undertook data collection and mitigation measures for major threats such as earthquakes and typhoons.

A look at recent history shows that Taiwan’s research on natural disasters usually receives an extra “push” after a major event has occurred. The decision to launch a national program for mitigation of natural hazards, for example, was made at the 5th National Science and Technology Conference in September 1996—about six weeks after Taiwan was hit by Typhoon Herb, which caused more than 50 deaths and an estimated economic loss of more than NT$30 billion (US$1 billion). While Typhoon Herb might have given impetus to the national-level natural hazard mitigation program, the 921 Earthquake prompted the government to strengthen disaster response systems, regulations and technology. Chen believes the most important government effort was the passage of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act in July 2000. “By setting out the responsibilities of different agencies and levels of governments, it organized a functional disaster prevention system,” he says.

Refocused and Expanded

Government units were also created and refocused in the wake of the 921 Earthquake. The year 2000, for example, saw the establishment of the National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission under the Executive Yuan. In 2003, the NSC office overseeing the National Science and Technology Program for Hazards Mitigation was expanded to become the NCDR, which is responsible for promoting research and development, technical support and the use of technology in the sector.

Several key research projects targeting the prevention and reduction of natural hazards were also initiated in the early 2000s. In 2003, for example, a major international project for the study of severe storms saw teams of weather scientists from Taiwan and the United States join forces to carry out an ongoing series of reconnaissance flights aimed at improving the accuracy of typhoon forecasting. The project, named Dropwindsonde Observation for Typhoon Surveillance near the Taiwan Region (DOTSTAR), conducts airborne data-gathering missions around tropical storm systems. The data is then sent to the CWB, which uses it for typhoon forecasting. By the end of 2011, the project had made 55 flights in the vicinity of 42 typhoons. According to Wu Chun-chieh (吳俊傑), project leader and a professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, DOTSTAR’s data collection and analysis help make typhoon forecasting 20 percent more accurate.

The torrential rain that accompanies typhoons can result in disastrous debris flows when it falls in areas that have steep topography or have seen inappropriate development. In fact, debris flows often cause more destruction than any other natural hazard. Most losses of life and property during Typhoon Morakot in 2009, for example, resulted from debris flows triggered by heavy rain. According to the Debris Flow Disaster Prevention Center under the Council of Agriculture’s Water and Soil Conservation Bureau (WSCB), more than 1,500 locations in Taiwan are susceptible to debris flows.

Taiwan’s debris flow countermeasures include constructing barriers as well as identifying and monitoring vulnerable areas. Dozens of rainfall monitoring stations set up in high-risk areas send data to the Debris Flow Disaster Prevention Center, which analyzes the information and issues warnings when needed. The center posts video taken by cameras at the monitoring stations and information about debris flows and countermeasures online.

While the data helps, it cannot tame the power of nature. “It’s impractical, if not impossible, to prevent debris flows completely. It’s just a matter of time until the next one occurs,” says Jan Chyan-ding (詹錢登), a professor who works for the Disaster Prevention Research Center at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan City, southern Taiwan. Jan’s unit has been working with the WSCB on research related to debris flows since 1990. “Still, by making use of all the tools at our disposal, perhaps we can help soften the consequences and minimize losses of life and property.” While debris flows caused by Typhoon Morakot took hundreds of lives, the WSCB says the monitoring system saved more than 800 residents in the disaster area by providing an early warning that led to their timely evacuation.

Taiwan’s local governments prepare for natural disasters in high-risk areas by practicing emergency response measures, educating residents in hazard mitigation techniques and familiarizing them with evacuation routes and shelters. “In any disaster, the first ones affected are always local residents and local governments,” the NCDR’s Chen says. “That’s why their knowledge and capabilities in the field play a critical role in mitigating natural hazards.” In 2011, the NCDR launched a four-year project to improve the ability of local governments to manage natural disasters. The scheme analyzes and evaluates the disaster prevention, relief and reconstruction capabilities of local agencies.

Chen warns that more often than not, a natural disaster causes multiple hazards. Typhoons, for example, not only set off debris flows, but also cause extensive flooding. To make matters worse, in recent years Taiwan has experienced heavier rainfall over fewer days, which leads to an obvious increase in the threat of flooding. Similar to its efforts targeting debris slides, Taiwan has set up warning systems in areas with high flood risk, drawn up evacuation plans and invested in building flood control structures like dams and flood walls. In Chen’s view, however, urban areas present the greatest challenge for Taiwan’s flood mitigation efforts. He notes that because they lack adequate sewerage systems, most of Taiwan’s urban areas are vulnerable to flooding during heavy rainfall.

Emerging Threats

While Taiwan already has its hands full in dealing with natural hazards like earthquakes and typhoons, new threats are emerging. One of the most alarming is climate change, which could lead to even more intense rainfall and thus flooding and debris slides. “The temperature in Taiwan has risen twice as much as the world’s average, so we’re likely to be among the first to deal with the consequences,” Chen says. “It means relevant data needs to be renewed and disaster prevention projects need to be revised. Doing those things is an urgent matter.” While many institutions such as the NCDR have been conducting research on climate change and its relation to natural disasters, the problem is time, or rather the lack of it.

Mitigating natural hazards requires an integrated effort that includes everything from gathering and analyzing data, assessing risk and simulating disaster scenarios to land use planning, establishing regulations and standards, coordinating available resources and educating those in susceptible areas. The goal of this complicated and long-term effort is giving the public a few more precious minutes or even seconds before a disaster strikes. The clock is always ticking, but Taiwan is working overtime to meet the challenges of its natural environment.

Write to Jim Hwang at cyhuang03@mofa.gov.tw