Qualla: 1941 Chungpu Earthquake https://qualla.com/1941-chungpu-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/t/1941-chungpu-earthquake-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: 1941 Chungpu Earthquake https://qualla.com/1941-chungpu-earthquake 1941 Chungpu Earthquake: Introduction https://qualla.com/1941-chungpu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The rumors spread faster than the aftershocks. On December 17, 1941 -- ten days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor -- a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the town of Zhongpu in southern Taiwan at 3:19 in the morning. Walls collapsed, rooftops caved in, and 358 people died in the darkness before dawn. But for many survivors, the shaking was not the worst of it. Word raced through the countryside that the Americans had retaliated against Japan with bombs, and that the explosions shaking their homes were the opening salvo of an air campaign. It was a false rumor, born of wartime fear and the uncanny timing of a geological event that had nothing to do with the war raging across the Pacific.

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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/t/1941-chungpu-earthquake-wp/wsjt-1941-chungpu-earthquake-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full 1941 Chungpu Earthquake: The Shaking https://qualla.com/1941-chungpu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The earthquake struck at a focal depth of just 15 kilometers -- shallow enough to concentrate its energy with devastating efficiency. The epicenter lay in what was then Tainan Prefecture, in the town known under Japanese administration as Chuho Village in the Kagi District, and i...

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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/t/1941-chungpu-earthquake-wp/wsjt-1941-chungpu-earthquake-the-shaking.mp3 0:06 2 full 1941 Chungpu Earthquake: Collapse Before Dawn https://qualla.com/1941-chungpu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The toll was staggering for a magnitude 7.1 event. According to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau, 358 people were killed and 733 injured. The predawn timing -- 3:19 am -- meant most victims were asleep when their homes fell on them. A total of 4,520 dwellings were completely destr...

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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/t/1941-chungpu-earthquake-wp/wsjt-1941-chungpu-earthquake-collapse-before-dawn.mp3 0:06 3 full 1941 Chungpu Earthquake: Rumors in Wartime https://qualla.com/1941-chungpu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. Taiwan was a Japanese colony in December 1941, and the attack on Pearl Harbor ten days earlier had electrified the island with a volatile mix of imperial pride and existential anxiety. When the ground heaved in the middle of the night, many residents -- cut off from reliable info...

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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/t/1941-chungpu-earthquake-wp/wsjt-1941-chungpu-earthquake-rumors-in-wartime.mp3 0:06 4 full 1941 Chungpu Earthquake: A Landscape of Repetition https://qualla.com/1941-chungpu-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The 1941 Chungpu earthquake was neither the first nor the last major temblor to strike this stretch of Taiwan's western foothills. The 1906 Meishan earthquake hit the neighboring township with similar force, and the catastrophic 1999 Jiji earthquake would later devastate central ...

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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/t/1941-chungpu-earthquake-wp/wsjt-1941-chungpu-earthquake-a-landscape-of-repetition.mp3 0:06 5 full