1999 Jiji earthquake
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| Date | September 21, 1999 |
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| Origin time | 01:47:12 am |
| Magnitude | 7.6-7.7 Mw / 7.3 Ms |
| Depth | 8.0 km (5.0 mi) |
| Epicenter |
23°46′19″N 120°58′55″E / 23.772°N 120.982°E Jiji, Nantou, Taiwan. |
| Areas affected | Taiwan |
| Peak acceleration | 1 g |
| Casualties | 2,415 killed 29 missing 11,305 injured 51,711 buildings destroyed 53,768 buildings damaged |
The Jiji earthquake (Chinese: 集集大地震; pinyin: Jíjí dàdìzhèn), known locally as the 921 earthquake (九二一大地震; Jiǔ'èryī dàdìzhèn), was a 7.3 Ms or 7.6-7.7 Mw earthquake which occurred in Jiji, Nantou County, Taiwan on Tuesday, 21 September 1999 at 01:47:12.6 TST (Monday, 20 September 1999 at 17:47:12.6 UTC). 2,415 people were killed, 11,305 injured, and NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) worth of damage was done. It was the second-deadliest quake in recorded history in Taiwan, after the 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake.
Rescue groups from around the world joined local relief workers and the ROC military in digging out survivors, clearing rubble, restoring essential services and distributing food and other aid to the more than 100,000 people made homeless by the quake. The disaster, dubbed the "Quake of the Century" by local media, had a profound effect on the economy of the island and the consciousness of the people, and dissatisfaction with government's performance in reacting to it was said by some commentators to be a factor in the unseating of the ruling Kuomintang party in the 2000 presidential election.
The earthquake struck at 01:47:12.6 TST on Tuesday, 21 September 1999 (i.e., 1999-09-21, hence "921"). The epicenter was at 23.77° N latitude, 120.98° E longitude, 9.2 km (5.7 mi) southwest of Sun Moon Lake, near the town of Jiji, Nantou. The tremor measured 7.6 on the Moment magnitude scale, 7.3 on the Richter scale, and the focal depth was 8.0 km (5.0 mi). The Central Weather Bureau recorded a total of 12,911 aftershocks in the month following the main tremor. The total energy released is estimated to be 2.1 × 1017J, approximately the same as the yield of the Tsar Bomba. The earthquake was in an unusual location for Taiwan, which experiences the majority of its earthquakes off the eastern coast, such quakes normally causing little damage. One of the aftershocks, on September 26, was a strong earthquake in its own right, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale and causing some already weakened buildings to collapse, killing another three people.
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