An outline of 921 Chi-Chi (Taiwan) Earthquake and its debris disasters (Prompt Report)

Abstract

A major earthquake (M 7.3, Taiwan Central Weather Bureau) occurred near the town of Chi-Chi in Nantou country, central Taiwan, on September 21, 1999, about 150 km south of Taipei. The earthquake caused heavy damages to houses, buildings, public facilities, roads and bridges in cities and towns, and moreover some large-scale landslides and many shallow slope failures in mountainous regions. In order to know general conditions of debris disasters on slopes the research team conducted by the Japan Sabo Association in corporation with the Japan Society of Erosion Control Engineering and the Japan Landslide Society carried out a preliminary research from October 11 to 17. This paper summarizes the investigations related to the property of the earthquake damages, focused on debris disaster.