7.6 earthquake in Taiwan,according to CNN.

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 20, 1999

Answers

abcnews

Powerful Quake Shakes Taipei Called Strongest in 10 Years

ABCNEWS.com Sept. 20  A powerful earthquake shook Taipei before dawn Tuesday local time, shaking buildings, cutting off power and disrupting communications in some parts of the Taiwanese capital. An earthquake rocked Taipei, which is home to about 2.6 million people and is the largest city in Taiwan. (ABCNEWS.com/ Magellan Geographix) A hotel near the Sungshan rail station collapsed, the Broadcasting Corp. of China said. It did not give the name of the hotel, but said the tops seven stories were wrecked by the quake. There was no word on any injuries at the hotel. The radio also reported that a row of houses collapsed in Chang Hua county in central Taiwan, injuring at least three people. Ten others were believed trapped in the wreckage, the radio said. Taiwan state radio said it was the strongest temblor to strike Taiwan in 10 years. It said the earthquake was estimated at 7.3 on the open-ended Richter Scale and its epicenter was believed to be Nantou, a seismically active area in central Taiwan. However, the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 and was centered 90 miles south-southwest of Taipei. The main tremor was followed by several aftershocks. Residents Gather in Streets Some scientists were concerned that the earthquake could spawn a tidal wave. There also are tsunami warnings out. There are warnings for Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Yap, Guam, and Palau, said geophysicist John Bellini. Telephone service was interrupted for a time by the quake, which occurred at about 1:45 a.m. The Broadcasting Corp. said it was followed by six aftershocks and cut electric service in several parts of the city. People gathered in the streets of the capital after the tremors were felt. Sirens from fire trucks and police cars resounded through Taipei, which is home to about 2.6 million people and is the largest city in Taiwan. But there was no sign of panic. In the southwestern Chiang Kai-shek district, some people brought candles into the street. Many carried umbrellas to stay out of the rain, huddling around battery-operated radios. Rern-Wei Cheng, a visitor to Taipei from California, told The Associated Press he was watching television with his family when the earthquake struck. When I first felt the quake, I thought of a Turkish friend who went back to Turkey to visit his family when the earthquake hit there .We were all frightened and we hid under the kitchen table. No one in the family was hurt. In one Taipei suburb, electricity was out in houses, but street lights were on.

-- Super (slfsl@yahoo.com), September 20, 1999.

Thanks, Maggie!

Monday September 20 3:07 PM ET

Major Earthquake Hits Taiwan, Buildings Collapse

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A major earthquake struck Taiwan early Tuesday, knocking down buildings and cutting power, state radio reported.

The radio said the earthquake was estimated at 7.3 on the open-ended Richter Scale and its epicenter was believed to be Nantou, a seismically active area in central Taiwan. The main quake was followed by several aftershocks.

Earlier estimates had put the earthquake's strength at 6.0 on the Richter scale. It struck just before 2 a.m. (2 p.m. EDT Monday). The earthquake measuring 7.4 on the scale which hit Turkey last month killed 15,000 people.

Residents of Taipei said the city had been plunged into darkness by a power cut and nervous citizens had poured into the streets, which were being patrolled by police cars.

The tremors hurled computers from desks and books from shelves but the capital's buildings appeared mostly unscathed, one woman said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

State radio said damage to buildings was greater in rural areas and that electricity was off in most parts of the island.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), September 20, 1999.

I recall reading on this forum that when Taiwan lost power for a short while a few weeks ago (mud slide?), the high tech mfg section was hit hard. (If the operation was that sensitive, I couldn't understand why it wouldn't already have had emergency generation capability.) I envisioned problems manufacturing whatever computer parts Taiwan specializes in. Seems like a strong earthquake could add to that type of JIT disruption for the industry.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), September 20, 1999.

Does anyone recall the name of the poster or have a link to those threades about earthquake predictions made about one month-6 weeks ago, around the time of the Turkey earthquake or right before? Just wondering...

-- Barb (awaltrip@telepath.com), September 20, 1999.

uh-oh. Lotsa earthquakes. Taiwan ... watch PC piecemeal prices start to rise. Yep, wrench in JIT, right before Y2K rachet. Makes FOF a little riskier, eh?

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), September 20, 1999.

Barb- I believe the poster was named St. Francis.

-- farmer (hillsidefarm@drbs.net), September 20, 1999.

*Sigh*

The earth seems a bit "angry" these days.

Diane

Check out the Global Seismic Monitor (great map) ...

http://www.iris.washington.edu/seismic/60_2040_1_8.html

The display is updated every 30 minutes using data from the National Earthquake Information Center. Earthquakes that have occurred within the last 24 hours are shown with red circles. The circles fade through orange to yellow within 15 days. After 15 days, the circles are replaced by light purple dots that remain on the map for five years. The distribution of seismicity over the past 5 years demonstrates how earthquakes define the boundaries of tectonic plates, and the relationship between topography and seismicity. The Earths shadow illustrates day/night and seasonal changes.

Click in the center of a circle and a list of all events will appear with the event you selected highlighted in yellow and events within 10 degrees of that event highlighted in white. Events that are 6.0 and greater are linked to special information pages that try to explain the where, how and why that particular event occurred. Click on an individual seismic observatory (shown by the purply colored triangles) to bring up a station information page.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 20, 1999.

I got through to the USGS and this is the series that they are reporting, at least 4 bigones in a row!

99/09/20 17:47:19 23.78N 121.09E 33.0 7.6Ms A TAIWAN

99/09/20 17:57:16 23.80N 121.34E 33.0 6.0Mb B TAIWAN

99/09/20 18:03:44 23.65N 121.36E 33.0 5.9Mb B TAIWAN

99/09/20 18:11:53 23.70N 121.23E 33.0 6.0Mb B TAIWAN

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), September 20, 1999.

Thanks for the tip, Farmer. I remember that as well, now. What an amazing year it's been for natural disasters!

-- Barb (awaltrip@telepath.com), September 20, 1999.

Ouch! helium.

Kind'a makes ya squirm in your California computer chair, doesn't it?

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 20, 1999.

Barb,

Unfortunately... it ain't over yet. And it *may* end/begin with a big manmade quake... uh, bang!

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 20, 1999.

Yeah, Diane, I'm thinking along those lines myself. Wondering if any "man made" ones are gonna get loose with all the earthshaking going on, or if China will take advantage of this most unfortunate "opportunity?"

-- Barb (awaltrip@telepath.com), September 20, 1999.

I'm not a particularly religous person, but still open minded enough to consider any possibilities. This may or may not be relevant but I couldn't help but recall having read this after hearing about all these earthquakes recently.

This is clipped from what is claimed to be the 3rd message of Fatima:

"Go, my child, and tell the world the sort of things that are about to happen between 1950 and 2000. Man does not listen to the commandments that the Lord has set before us. The devil rules the world and is making people hate each other. Weapons are being made that can destroy the world in minutes. Half of mankind will be destroyed. Hard times will come to the church. Evil will live among men and the devil will plant the seed so that no one will get along with each other and the people will lose faith. War shall start again in Rome and there shall be fighting among religious orders. The weak and the bad will fall. God will allow COLD SMOKE, WATER, HAIL, FIRE, RAIN, HORRIBLE WEATHER, VERY COLD WINTERS and EARTHQUAKES that will slowly destroy life on earth. Those that will die do not believe in our Lord. Those are the people whose lives were based on material things, and millions will lose their lives in seconds."

And further down the page...

"WHAT IS WAITING FOR US

Everywhere there will be talk of peace and reassurance but our punishment will nevertheless, still come. One man with a big position will be assassinated that shall call for a war. It will be cold. An array of great forces will walk into Europe and the atomic war will start. It will destroy everything. Darkness will descend on the earth for 72 hours and one-third of mankind that will survive the 72 hours of darkness will come to live a new era and will be good people. One cold night, 10 minutes before midnight, a great earthquake will shake the whole earth for 8 hours."

The mention of darkness descending makes me think if this could be symbolic of Y2K.

message

-- @ (@@@.@), September 20, 1999.

I didn't have a clue until I popped on the board. This is why I think the "OT" posts regarding our world are so important. CNN just said the quake was a 7.6.

There is some great information with an interesting perspective on this at the Millennium Group website.

I dunno...after the recent eclipse and with Comet Lee and the intense weather things sure do "seem" to be a little out of balance on our little blue marble...

Mike

=================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), September 20, 1999.

Are there tidal wave warnings out?

-- balance (give@take.earth), September 20, 1999.

balance...yes, there is.

Mike

====================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), September 20, 1999.

I don't know if anyone else noticed but we have had a lot more earthquakes than usual just since the last total eclipse. My theory, which could be total hogwash, is that the pull of gravity on the Earth's crust was significantly increased casuing the Turkey quake only a few days later, and a series of subsequent large quakes throughout the World. If this theory is correct then we are in big trouble on May 5, 2000 when the 5 planets closet to Earth will be lined up. The earthquake that shakes the entire Earth for 8 hours?


May 5, 2000. The five classical planets plus the sun and moon span 260, their closest separation since 1962 and their closest until 2675. Only Venus in the morning and Mars and the crescent moon in the evening might be visible. Ecliptic grids are 50 apart.


-- @ (@@@.@), September 20, 1999.

@-didn't the planets line up sometime in the 80's? Did anything happen? Don't get me wrong I believe there are forces in our *space* unknown that can unleash terror here. I'm not discounting the theory I just don't want myself to get over alarmed.

-- balance (give@take.earth), September 20, 1999.

I TRIED TO TELL YUZ, BUT DELETE,DELETE. YOU AIN,T SEEN NOTHING YET. BEFORE HIS RETURN=NATURE CONVULSES.

-- BIRTH-PANGS (dogs@zianet.com), September 20, 1999.

balance,

Yes, there have been many alignments in the past, but as stated this is the tightest gravity pull since 1962. And that Jupiter is a Whopper of a pull! Sorry, didn't want to alarm you, but let's just say you might want to make sure everything is bolted down and stay out from under tall buidings for a few weeks!

-- @ (@@@.@), September 20, 1999.

August 11, total eclipse at maximum directly above Turkey ...


The eclipsed sun peeks out from behind the moon over Diyabikar, Turkey

Then, six days later ... kaboom!
Major earthquake rocks northwestern Turkey
Just coincidence? Hmmmmm ...

-- @ (@@@.@), September 20, 1999.

Gayla,

Your welcome.

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 20, 1999.

The planets-lining-up theory of earthquakes is only mysticism, I'm afraid. Yes, Jupiter is very large, but gravity follows an inverse square law, and Jupiter is a LONG way away. As I recall, the pull exerted on the Earth by Jupiter is less than one millionth the pull exerted by the Moon. Indeed, the pull of all the outer planets together at maximum (perfect lineup) is less than one millionth the pull of the Moon.

Large tidal stresses can cause volcanic activity (look at Io, for example, closest moon to Jupiter) but for those stressed to cause a LOT of activity, you need to be pretty close (Europa, next moon out from Io, has no detected volcanic activity). It's likely the Moon's pull contributes to plate tectonics in some way, but even the heat from the Moon's tidal stresses is far less than the heat of radioactive decay as a contributor to the Earth's molten core and floating plates.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), September 20, 1999.

@---did anything happen in '62? You seem knowledgeable just wanting to pick your brain. It seems to me there was a BIG quake in Alaska sometime around then.

You said:

"Sorry, didn't want to alarm you, but let's just say you might want to make sure everything is bolted down and stay out from under tall buidings for a few weeks!"

Already there- kinda sensitive to the earth moving!

Thanks for all you contribute.

-- balance (give@take.earth), September 20, 1999.

Flint: In the early '70's, '74 I think, someone wrote a popular book call "The Jupiter Effect". Same theory. When the date rolled over, nothing happened. It was soon debunked by scientists as nonsense. Dopey ideas are hard to kill.

-- curtis schalek (cschalek@earthlink.net), September 20, 1999.

I believe all these factors contribute in some way. Like Y2K, which will act as the final "trigger" is anybody's guess.

In July of '97 I was driving cross-country and caught a late night talk show on the radio. It was an interview with I believe an Australian Scientist who had just spotted some temperature spikes in satellite imagery showing ocean temperatures in the Pacific. He was the first to predict a coming El Nino effect, to be later followed by La Nina. If my memory serves me within 4 months time San Francisco began to feel the effects of heavy rainfall, followed by other areas on the West Coast. The ineresting part and I don't remember all the specifics, but he stated that we should also expect heavier than normal frequency and magnitude of earthquakes in the following couple years, to include possible volcanic activity.

This was not the first El Nino, so much of this data is tucked in a computer somewhere. The University of Alaska in Fairbanks has one of the finer Volcanic Observation Labs monitoring Alaska and the Paific Basin.

Also, ocean temperatures have been at partial blame for a higher frequency and severity of the hurricanes and typhoons in the past couple of years. Didn't Iraq or Iran also have a severe quake late this spring or early summer?

-- (snowleopard6@webtv.net), September 20, 1999.

Flint, "...only mystiism, I'm afraid" as if you know. I see. You must know more than the entire cadre of scientists perenially studying these phenomenon and continually coming up with new answers to what is going on. Like you understand the subtle vibratory effects of the passage of planets? PLease, you've got to get over yourself. You do not know ONE THING at all!!! NONE OF US DOES. You do NOT know this and you do not know what the outcomme of the Y2K problem will be. Give yourself a break. BE a little objective and recognize our limitations as humans and that you are one of these.

Flint, you don't know and I don't know. Struggle though we might to inflate our own sense of self-importance and certainty.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWayne@aol.com), September 20, 1999.

Mara:

Sorry, not this time. Jupiter's mass and distance are known. The gravitational attraction between Earth and Jupiter can be calculated. Try it. Your theory of mystic vibrations is, as was pointed out earlier, "dopey". You'd have as big an effect on earthquakes as Jupiter does, just from stamping your feet!

I suggest, arrogantly I know, that you go back to your y2k doomie incantations. Nonetheless, I admire your ability to believe in *anything*, however absurd, as well as your spunk in defending your illusions, however silly. Your position as a suitable exhibit on this forum remains unaffected, I assure you.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), September 20, 1999.

Flint said:

"You'd have as big an effect on earthquakes as Jupiter does, just from stamping your feet!"

okay Mr. know it all

IF a butterfly in Hong Kong can flap its wings and cause a storm in New york city then anything can happen! And anything does happen!

INTERCONNECTEDNESS!!!!!!!!!

get ahold of it before it gets ahold of YOU.

-- balance (give@take.earth), September 20, 1999.

What, has this forum become a clearinghouse for zany beliefs tonight? No, if every butterfly's wingflaps caused hurricanes unpredictably, life as anyone knows it would not be possible. Some simple, clear and obvious things really are subject to understanding, and most uncertain things are subject to fairly rigid rules of probability -- ask those who run the games in Las Vegas.

I guess knowledge, like experience, only seems crucial to those who have it, and unnecessary to those who don't. But as the old saying goes, if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. To translate -- you have *earned* your lot in life. Congratulations.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), September 20, 1999.

Do not adjust your set...

-- Rod Serling (Twilight@Zone.__), September 20, 1999.

Thank you Flint for removing all doubt I will never value another thing you post!

-- balance (give@take.earth), September 20, 1999.

Fatima? Was she a Catholic Mystic? When was she writing this stuff, thanks.

-- (y2kfallback@yahoo.com), September 20, 1999.

y2kfallback,

Fatima is a city in Portugal where an apparition of the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared and spoke to 3 children. Or maybe it was aliens pretending to be Virgin Mary... either way, the news was not good. See link above titled "message".

balance,

The only thing I found so far is a 7.1 quake in NW Iran on 9/1/62 that took 12,230 people. Still looking for alignment dates for that year.

Flint,

Where did you get the information about the gravitational force of these planets being 1 millionth of the moon? The May 5, 2000 alignment includes the moon in its near-new phase (similar to an eclipse). The pull of the planets will be in addition to that force.

-- @ (@@@.@), September 20, 1999.

Quake Rocks Taiwan, Death Toll Tops 600

Updated 12:29 AM ET September 21, 1999

full image A Building is Seen Collapsed in Taipei (Reuters) more photos

By Alice Hung

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A strong earthquake killed at least 637 people and injured 2,900 in Taiwan Tuesday, state television said.

The toll could rise dramatically as more than 1,200 people were trapped inside collapsed buildings, according to officials.

A wine factory in central Taiwan, where the earthquake was centered, exploded and a 12-story concrete apartment and hotel complex in downtown Taipei collapsed like a concertina, trapping more than 100 people.

The earthquake measured 7.6 on the open-ended Richter scale, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Taiwan's weather bureau recorded the intensity at 7.3.

The earthquake in Turkey last month which killed more than 15,000 people measured 7.3 on the scale.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin expressed concern for victims of the earthquake and offered assistance to the island, which is viewed by Beijing as a renegade province.

"We express our utmost concern over this major disaster," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Jiang as saying.

President Clinton, expressing concern and sadness over the deaths and devastation, said the United States was "in touch directly with the Taiwan authorities to determine what assistance" may be needed.

Most of Taiwan was asleep when the earthquake struck at 1:47 a.m., with its epicenter 7.8 miles west of Taiwan's central county of Nantou, a seismically active area.

More than 1,000 aftershocks rattled the island after the earthquake, prompting Premier Vincent Siew to warn more were likely and to appeal for calm.

The aftershocks -- 24 of them registered five or higher on the Richter scale -- heightened the danger for rescue workers searching for people trapped in damaged buildings.

President Lee Teng-hui urged people to stay calm and reassured the public the government had mobilized all its resources to handle the disaster.

The stock and currency markets were ordered to close Tuesday. Television showed people crying for help from the wreckage of fallen buildings in Taipei. Other victims, semi-naked or wearing pajamas, were guided down ladders to safety by rescuers.

"I was in the middle of sleep and the ceiling suddenly fell from the sky," said 27-year-old Lin Hung-yi, who lived in the collapsed 12-story apartment complex in Taipei.

Rescuers carried an injured child and old women to safety through mangled wreckage of concrete and metal, with water streaming from pipes.

Shocked victims could be seen clinging to the balconies of what had been their homes.

"I ran out after the quake, but my mother is still trapped inside," said high-school student Chiang Hung-han in tears.

Stuart Koyanagi of the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado, told CNN that a tsunami or tidal wave warning had been issued by Taiwan authorities.

"This is similar to the quake in Turkey. But we still don't know how deep below the surface the earthquake was," he said.

"We estimate this is a major earthquake. We only record five to ten such quakes a year. Quakes like this can kill dozens of people and collapse a lot of buildings."

Taipei was plunged into darkness by the power cut, and nervous citizens gathered in the streets, which were being patrolled by police cars.

The tremors hurled computers from desks and books from shelves but most of the capital's buildings appeared mostly unscathed, witnesses said.

Michael Armstrong, a guest in the Taipei Hyatt Hotel, said he was woken up by the quake.

"I was fast asleep and the violent shaking woke me up. the shaking seemed to go on for about 30 seconds. After the main quake the hotel seemed to keep shaking," he told CNN.

==========================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), September 21, 1999.

How in the world does this blasted 5/5/2000 keep popping up? Go to:

http://www.teleport.com/~tcollins/conjunct.shtml

This guy shows his work, it is NOTHING! This eclipse happened 6,000 years ago, the Earth did not shift it's axis. There are alignments all the time, but for some reason everyone latches on to this one.

As for the Earthquakes, let's look at this for a moment. They are all in the same general vicinity of the world and I noticed something when I was rearranging my video collection that corrosponds.

Shalf #1 Tapes 1 2 3 4 5

Shelf #2 Tapes 6 7 8 9 10

Shelf #3 Tapes 11 12 13 14 15

Ok, I get a new tape for shelf 3, and since I keep them in alphabetical order I must move them.

Shelf #1 Tapes 1 2 3 4 5

Shelf #2 Tapes 6 7 8 9 10

Shelf #3 Tapes 12 13 14 15 16

Ok, now I must rearrange Shelf #2

Shelf #1 Tapes 1 2 3 4 5

Shelf #2 7 8 9 10 11 (shelf #3 is no longer needed)

And then Shelf #1 will be affected and so on.

We are talking about an area of the world that has not had a major Earthquake in quite awhile, the plates were bound to shift. Are they done? I don't think so. I think Asia is in for a few more unfortuantly.

As for Total Eclipses...I live in Missouri near the New Madrid fault. This is a fault even more dangerous than the San Andreas, just not as active. This sucker reversed the Mississippi for 24 hours once! So why, by the theories on here, did we not have a major quake when we last had a total eclipse?

-- whatever (yeah@right.com), September 21, 1999.

Well, using data from http://www.seds.or g/nineplanets/nineplanets/ and working things out on the back of an envelope, I reckon that Jupiter's gravitational pull on the Earth, at closest approach, is 0.9% as strong as the Moon's. Or in other words, it'll exert less of a pull on you than did that big truck you drove past on your way to work.

-- J (j@j.j), September 21, 1999.

Whatever,

Don't worry you'll get your chance to rock and roll. The path of totality for the last eclipse was not only on the other side of the world but at a much higher latitude than Missouri.



J.

Thanks for your help - almost 1% ! - well that is a heck of a lot more than 1 millionth. Appreciate it.


-- @ (@@@.@), September 21, 1999.

flint is correct.

-- number six (iam_not_a_number@hotmail.com), September 21, 1999.

"Whatever,

Don't worry you'll get your chance to rock and roll. The path of totality for the last eclipse was not only on the other side of the world but at a much higher latitude than Missouri. "

Not what I said, but I see how you got it. I meant the last total eclipse that passed OVER Missouri. Not the last one as in the one that went over Turkey. I see how you got that from what I said though. My bad.

-- whatever (yeah@right.com), September 21, 1999.