921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan

The island of Taiwan was created by the continuous collision between the Eurasian plate, Filipino plate, and the Pacific plate helping from the side. Such immense forces create earthquakes in Taiwan all year round. In the 20th century, there were several big earthquakes between the 1930s to 1960s, but none of them were as powerful as that of September 21st, 1999. The 7.3 Richter scale 921 Earthquake released a demolition force with an energy equivalent to 50 of the Hiroshima nuclear bombs, creating a 105 kilometers long fault line on the island, and causing 2415 deaths. The epicenter was in Jiji, Nantou. The surrounding villages and townships suffered serious damage.

After the recovery from the earthquakes, the government decided to build a museum documenting all the damage to the site. The National Science Museum in Taichung was responsible for the project and quite an effort to preserve the rubble and transform it into a museum exhibition for the purpose of education. The location was a high school on top of the fault where half of the buildings were completely destroyed. Even today, you can see the playground was lifted by meters. All classrooms were collapsed and you can see the steel bars in concrete. But don’t be worried walking inside, the whole structure was fastened by steel frames in order to preserve the moment of the demolition. There is also an earthquake simulator room worth visiting. After sitting inside a room decorated as a living room, the five-minute program starts. There are several violent vibrations for almost 40 seconds, allowing you to feel what its like at the very moment of the 921 Earthquake. Trust us, we feel pretty much the same at that time. All in all, this is a museum well worth visiting no matter whether you already have an idea about what a serious earthquake is like or not. This museum will definitely leaves a deep impression on you.