-Caveat Lector- http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_453000/453434.stm Tuesday, September 21, 1999 Published at 16:42 GMT 17:42 UK Earthquake 'unusual', say scientists The earthquake which rocked buildings and killed more than 1,000 people in central Taiwan in the early hours of Tuesday morning was unusual, say seismologists. Normally, quakes in the region occur hundreds of kilometres out to sea, far away from urban populations. But this tremor, which measured about 7.6 on the Richter scale, struck inland, close to the central city of Taichung. It was also very near the Earth's surface. The BBC's Christine McGourty: "Experts say there's no connection between this quake and the one in Turkey" The tremor was timed at 0147 (1747GMT Monday), with its epicentre - the point on the Earth's surface directly above the quake - located at 23.7 degrees north latitude and 121.1 degrees east longitude. That put it about 12.5 km (7.75 miles) west of the scenic Sun Moon Lake in central Nantou county. Already, scientists have begun analysing data from seismometers around the world. "It looks as if this one was peculiar in some way," said Dr Chris Browitt from the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh. "It looks as like it was much shallower than usual and in a different area." Frequent events This was confirmed by reporters on the ground. "This quake happened in the mountains on the western side of the island," said Diane Baker of the Taipei Times. "The big cities of Taipei and Taichung are unprotected for something like this." Recently history shows there have been earthquakes around magnitude 7.5 in the region more than once a decade for the last three decades. The last tremor on this scale to hit the island was on 14 November, 1986. But again, this occurred under the ocean and the resulting death toll was restricted to just 15. "You've got to remember that a magnitude 7.5 earthquake will occur maybe four times a year somewhere in the world. It's just that this one happened to hit at a place where a lot of people and buildings are exposed." Seismologists will be keen to study the depth data for this quake. Tremors can occur as deep as 700 km. As recently as 1993, Taiwan experienced a quake that was over 150 km down. But this latest quake was probably no more than a few kilometres below the surface. Destructive power The destructive power of an earthquake comes from the momentum gathered when two opposing "faults" or plates of rock, which may have been locked together for decades, suddenly move apart. The result is that solid rock which normally moves only with the passing of geological ages accelerates briefly to 5,000mph, unleashing huge quantities of energy and creating a shaking movement of up to a metre a second. Walter Mooney, a seismologist at the US Geological Survey: The building codes are better in Taiwan than in Turkey Taiwan sits is a very active seismological region where the relatively small Philippine plate is slowly grinding into the very large Eurasian plate. To the north of the island, the Philippine plate is being forced under the Eurasian plate mass - what seismologists call a subduction zone - whereas to the south, the opposite is happening. Of concern to local people will be the danger that comes from aftershocks, which can bring down already unstable buildings. Five such tremors all measuring about six on the Richter scale occurred within 30 minutes of the initial earthquake. "From the previous history it looks as though there is the potential for other earthquakes on this size or even larger to occur over the next few months," said Chris Browitt. "Back in 1935 there was a magnitude 7.1 which killed over 3,000 people in the west of Taiwan and it had an aftershock about three months later which killed just under 3,000 people." DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
