User:Taiwantaffy/Quakes/1946 Xinhua Earthquake
| UTC time | ?? |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 6.1 ML |
| Depth | 5 kilometres (3 mi) |
| Epicenter | 23°06′N 120°18′E / 23.1°N 120.3°E |
| Areas affected | Taiwan |
| Casualties | 74 dead |
The 1946 Xinhua earthquake (Chinese: 1946年新化大地震; pinyin: 1946 nián Xīnhuà dà dìzhèn), also referred to as the 1946 Tainan earthquake (Chinese: 1946年台南大地震; pinyin: 1946 nián Táinán dà dìzhèn) was a magnitude 6.1 earthquake which hit Tainan County, Taiwan, on December 5, 1946 at 06:47. The quake claimed 74 lives and was the eighth deadliest earthquake in twentieth century Taiwan.
Technical details[edit]
The 6.1 ML earthquake struck at 06:47 CST on Thursday December 5 1946, as people in the area were waking up and preparing breakfast. The epicentre was in Xinhua in the centre of Tainan County at a relatively shallow depth of 5 kilometres (3 mi); the rupture responsible was the Xinhua fault (Chinese: 新化斷層; pinyin: Xīnhuà duàncéng). Government geologists in Taiwan believe this fault may have been active a number of times during the (current) Holocene era.[1] There was one major aftershock, on December 17, which measured 5.7 on the Richter scale but caused no additional casualties.[2]
Damage[edit]
According to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau, the casualties and damage were as follows:[2]
- 74 dead
- 200 seriously injured
- 274 lightly injured
- 1,971 dwellings completely destroyed
- 2,084 dwellings partially destroyed
Soil liquefaction and sand boils were observed in central Tainan County, and there was widespread damage to railways, roads, farmland, water pipes and bridges.[2] As the disaster came just a year into the new Kuomintang rule in Taiwan, it served as a test for the new government. It was the most serious earthquake in Tainan County in 84 years.[3][4]
See also[edit]
- 1964 Baihe earthquake - struck not far from the epicentre of the 1946 Xinhua quake
References[edit]
- ^ "Earthquake Geologic Investigation And Data Bank Compilation On Active Faults". Central Geological Survey, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
- ^ a b c "Preface". 台灣地區十大災害地震圖集 (A Collection of Images of Ten Great Earthquake Disasters in the Taiwan Region) (PDF) (in Chinese). Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- ^ "二十世紀前(1604-1900)台灣地區的地震記載". Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ "二十世紀(1901-2000)台灣地區災害性地震" (in Chinese). Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 2009-07-17.