The 921 earthquake (Chinese: 九二一大地震; pinyin: Jiǔ'èryī dàdìzhèn), also known as Jiji earthquake (Chinese: 集集大地震; pinyin: Jíjí dàdìzhèn), was a 7.3 Ms or 7.6-7.7 Mw earthquake which occurred at 1:47:12 am local time on Tuesday, September 21, 1999 (17:47:12 UTC on September 20) in Jiji (Chichi, 集集), Nantou County, Taiwan. 2,415 people were killed, 11,305 injured, and NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) worth of damage was done. It was the second-deadliest quake in recorded history in Taiwan, after the 1935 Hsinchu-Taichung earthquake.
Rescue groups from around the world joined local relief workers and the ROC military in digging out survivors, clearing rubble, restoring essential services and distributing food and other aid to the more than 100,000 people made homeless by the quake. The disaster, dubbed the "Quake of the Century" by local media, had a profound effect on the economy of the island and the consciousness of the people, and dissatisfaction with government's performance in reacting to it was said by some commentators to be a factor in the unseating of the ruling Kuomintang party in the 2000 Presidential Election.
Read more about 921 Earthquake: Technical Data, Damage, International Response, Rescue Efforts, Clean-up and Reconstruction, Legacy
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“Through the din and desultoriness of noon, even in the most Oriental city, is seen the fresh and primitive and savage nature, in which Scythians and Ethiopians and Indians dwell. What is echo, what are light and shade, day and night, ocean and stars, earthquake and eclipse, there? The works of man are everywhere swallowed up in the immensity of nature. The AEgean Sea is but Lake Huron still to the Indian.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)