921 Earthquake Museum

The 921 Earthquake Museum sits about thirty minutes south of central Taichung, in the suburb of Wufeng, and is one of the most affecting museums on the island. The ruined Guangfu Junior High School, with its tilted running track, crushed classrooms, and visible fault scarp, has been preserved in place and roofed over with curved steel.

The museum sections explain plate tectonics, the 1999 earthquake itself, and Taiwan's earthquake preparedness systems. The combination of dry technical exhibition and clearly visible physical destruction makes for a more memorable visit than the subject sounds on paper. Half a day; take the bus from Taichung Station or a taxi.

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A story
On 21 September 1999, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck central Taiwan, killing more than two thousand people. The Guangfu Junior High School in Wufeng was directly above the fault and was destroyed almost completely; the rest of the area collapsed around it. Rather than rebuild, the government preserved the wrecked school as it stood and built a museum around it.

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