Taiwan Today

Taiwan harnesses advanced earthquake engineering R&D to ensure newbuilds are seismic-resistant structures.

On the 25th National Disaster Prevention Day, the first after President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) took office, he visited the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan in Taichung City. The facility commemorates a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that took place Sept. 21, 1999 around the Chelungpu fault in central Taiwan. Also known as the Jiji earthquake after the township at the epicenter, it claimed more than 2,400 lives and destroyed buildings and infrastructure. Speaking at the museum, Lai noted current earthquake warning systems and improved seismic resistance construction standards, as well as disaster contingency planning like the establishment last year of the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee, which comprises cabinet members and representatives from the academic, civic and industrial sectors. He pledged to work with partners at home and abroad to instill resilience in the general population.

Annual disaster prevention drills are held on Sept. 21, organized by the Ministry of the Interior’s (MOI) National Fire Agency in accordance with data from the Scenario Simulation and Loss Estimation for Large-Scale Earthquakes. The Cabinet-level National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)-led project was conducted by New Taipei City-based National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction, Taiwan Earthquake Research Center in Taipei City and the capital’s National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE). The latter, one of seven entities administered by NSTC’s National Institutes of Applied Research, officially opened in 1998 with seismic simulation facilities capable of conducting large- or full-scale static and dynamic tests to advance earthquake engineering research. “The 1999 catastrophe was a turning point for accelerated development of building design and construction aimed at greater seismic resistance,” said Ou Yu-chen (歐昱辰), director general of the NCREE.

Seismic Shift
Earthquake resistance goals for buildings are threefold: to prevent structures from collapsing in big quakes, to be able to repair them after moderate ones and to have them be unaffected by minor ones. Since 2005 the NCREE has been responsible for helping the MOI draft, review and revise seismic design specifications. “In earlier stages the focus was on structural integrity to prevent human casualties,” Ou said. “Attention was next placed on nonstructural components such as ceilings and utility lines so that a facility like a hospital or high-tech factory could function after an earthquake.” For example, a ceiling can be allowed a degree of motion and important equipment like computers and servers can be attached to vibration isolators.

The 2006 version of the building design codes includes a chapter on seismic isolation and damping elements. Dampers are mechanical devices installed in buildings to absorb and dissipate seismic energy, reducing structural vibrations and damage during earthquakes. Fluid viscous dampers use liquid to absorb energy, friction dampers dissipate it through friction and tuned mass dampers, like the famous one in Taipei 101, are pendulum-like masses that counteract building sway. Dampers act as shock absorbers to improve seismic resilience and allow buildings to move elastically while protecting the main structure. As of 2022 more than 1,000 buildings have installed dampers, compared with around 80 in 2009.

Construction projects near Chelungpu and 19 other active faults around the country have been required to enhance earthquake resistance. For areas with special topographical features, like the Taipei basin where trapped seismic waves are prolonged in duration and intensity, leading to liquefaction, a seismic microzoning map notes such hazards. The NCREE collected around 600 examples of soil liquefaction, both in Taiwan and overseas, to analyze and calculate the degree of resistance in different areas of the country. The results were incorporated into construction safety codes for local antiliquefaction architecture. Both soil condition and foundation stability can be improved by installing drainage systems that improve earth density and separation of the foundation and ground with a flexible layer that can reduce transmission of ground motion, thus reducing the chances of building tilt or subsidence.

Engineering Resistance
After seismic safety regulations were revised in response to the Jiji earthquake, new buildings have been better able to resist earthquakes. Structures that collapsed during major quakes in 2016 in Tainan City as well as in 2018 and 2024 in Hualien County were all constructed before 1999, according to Huang Yin-nan (黃尹男), associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at National Taiwan University (NTU) who heads the school’s Center for Earthquake Engineering Research. The country’s pioneering academic department in research and analysis of quake-resistant structures, the center was the genesis of NCREE on the NTU campus as a national-level institution with a brief to upgrade antiseismic technologies.

Older buildings in need of structural improvement often suffer from weak ground floors, as evidenced by high-rise buildings that were toppled by the 1999, 2016, 2018 and 2024 earthquakes, where the upper floors remained relatively intact. “First floors are usually open spaces for public or commercial use with higher ceilings and fewer supporting walls,” Huang explained, pointing to ongoing NCREE-organized projects for structural assessment and reinforcement of buildings with these critical weak points. Before strengthening or complete reconstruction, phased improvements can provide short-term protection. These measures have been proven effective by examples where reinforced buildings were able to resist an earthquake that toppled nearby nonreinforced structures. “Hualien and many other places have seen an increasing number of private buildings applying for government subsidies to strengthen structures,” he added.

Measured Response
Huang is also a leading member of the NCREE’s Earthquake Disaster Simulation Division, which is responsible for giving Taiwan Early Seismic Loss Estimation system notices immediately after major earthquakes to help with responsive policymaking and other resources. “The model is based on the country’s tax registration data,” he said. “It’s able to send text messages out within minutes.” This and the Taiwan Seismic Scenario Database, intended for predisaster preparation, have been incorporated in the MOI’s Emergency Management Information Cloud system, which is accessible to city and county authorities.

In addition to these mature physical models, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as image recognition algorithms are being developed to survey and design quake-resistant structures. Among other applications, AI analyses of existing blueprints—with details like the sizes of beams and pillars—can accelerate seismic safety evaluation procedures for local governments to make priority lists of structural improvement work from among thousands of buildings, according to NCREE’s Ou. He also cited a mobile app that identifies photos of postquake damage as critical or not.

The NCREE also undertakes long-term cooperation with international organizations, including the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) based in the U.S. state of California. In 2023 the NCREE joined international teams in Türkiye to examine damaged structures after the earthquake there in February, and the following year, representatives from the EERI, Tokyo University of Science, New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering and other international groups went to Hualien to survey earthquake damage with NCREE researchers. In the field of seismic-resistant bridge technologies, NCREE has learned from Japanese strategies to reinforce bridges built near fault lines and from techniques used in the U.S. to protect long-span bridges. “We draw from overseas expertise and experience and fit them to our local environments to protect life and property,” Ou said. “Our R&D has yielded positive results, and we’ll continue research and analysis to minimize earthquake damage.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw