Qualla: 1904 Douliu Earthquake https://qualla.com/1904-douliu-earthquake en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/1904-douliu-earthquake-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: 1904 Douliu Earthquake https://qualla.com/1904-douliu-earthquake 1904 Douliu Earthquake: Introduction https://qualla.com/1904-douliu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The seismograph needles jumped at 4:25 in the morning on November 6, 1904, and for the first time in Taiwan's history, instruments rather than human memory recorded the details. Magnitude: 6.1. Depth: 7 kilometers. Epicenter: the town of Xingang in Chiayi County. The numbers sound moderate -- a 6.1 earthquake is not, in seismological terms, a giant. But depth changes everything. At just 7 kilometers below the surface, the energy had almost no rock to absorb it before reaching the sleeping towns above. By the time the shaking stopped, 145 people were dead, 590 homes were flattened, and Japanese colonial officials were documenting something new: a Taiwanese earthquake measured not by legend and memory, but by science.

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/1904-douliu-earthquake-wp/wsjw-1904-douliu-earthquake-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full 1904 Douliu Earthquake: The Instruments Arrive https://qualla.com/1904-douliu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. Taiwan sits atop the collision zone where the Eurasian and Philippine Sea tectonic plates grind against each other, producing earthquakes with grim regularity. But before the Japanese colonial era, these events were recorded only in gazetteers and oral tradition -- approximate da...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/1904-douliu-earthquake-wp/wsjw-1904-douliu-earthquake-the-instruments-arrive.mp3 0:06 2 full 1904 Douliu Earthquake: The Ground Turned to Liquid https://qualla.com/1904-douliu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The earthquake's shallow depth -- just 7 kilometers -- amplified its destructive power far beyond what the magnitude alone would suggest. Towns in present-day Yunlin County, Chiayi County, and Tainan City shook violently. Japanese officials recorded sandblasting and soil liquefac...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/1904-douliu-earthquake-wp/wsjw-1904-douliu-earthquake-the-ground-turned-to-liquid.mp3 0:06 3 full 1904 Douliu Earthquake: The Cost in Yen and Lives https://qualla.com/1904-douliu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. According to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau, the earthquake killed 145 people, seriously injured 50, and less seriously injured 107. The physical destruction was extensive: 590 dwellings completely destroyed, 1,085 partially destroyed. Japanese colonial authorities assessed the ...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/1904-douliu-earthquake-wp/wsjw-1904-douliu-earthquake-the-cost-in-yen-and-lives.mp3 0:06 4 full 1904 Douliu Earthquake: A Pattern in the Foothills https://qualla.com/1904-douliu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The 1904 earthquake was not an isolated event but part of a seismic pattern that has repeated along Taiwan's western foothills for centuries. The epicenter near Xingang sat close to the fault that would produce the 1906 Meishan earthquake just two years later in the neighboring t...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/1904-douliu-earthquake-wp/wsjw-1904-douliu-earthquake-a-pattern-in-the-foothills.mp3 0:06 5 full