Hello. I was wondering whether there is much difference living on, let’s say, the 10th floor of a highrise or the 20th when it comes to feeling earthquakes and typhoons.
Also, for those of you living in Lotus Hill, has there been any major damage from earthquakes or typhoons?
[quote=“suesol”]Hello. I was wondering whether there is much difference living on, let’s say, the 10th floor of a highrise or the 20th when it comes to feeling earthquakes and typhoons.
Also, for those of you living in Lotus Hill, has there been any major damage from earthquakes or typhoons?[/quote]
Welcome to Forumosa.com.
Generally, the higher up you go in any building, the more sway you’ll notice. There was one report of a person being in the Taipei 101 building on the 55th floor or thereabouts and seeing the strings on the window blinds swinging during a mild earthquake.
during the last typhoon, some 101 employees were nauseous from the swaying.
i had read there werre nodes, or points in which the swaying in less. something like every 5 or 10 floors regardless of height??
Thanks for the welcome and the info.
I have felt them on the 8th, 11th and 16th floor but I couldn’t say which height is worst as they had different intensities (though logic says the higher the more swaying).
After getting used to it it’s actually fun. 
Fun? Hardly. I used to work with a girl whose grandparents and 2 other relatives died in the 921 quake. Every time we had a quake she would cry. Not that much fun.
I’m on the 22d and I definately feel every small quiver that comes along. My friends don’t even feel the small ones but up here? Very interesting.
The swaying is fun, as long as the building doesn’t collapse and no one gets hurt. Not every quake causes death and destruction …
True but until you have lost loved ones or experienced someone first hand reliving painful memories its hard to call them fun. Not knowing if they will ramp up from a gentle sway to sudden jolts I find plain scary.
Were you here for 921?
None whatsoever - not even doing Typhoon Nari a few years back when most of Xizhi was under water. Lotus Hill also has back up generators for every apartment. It’s a good place to live. 
Guess you are right, I then would think differently about it.
No, wasn’t here yet - came to Taiwan in early 2002 only.
Here’s that person. Actually, it was during a typhoon. I felt kinda sick, first I thought it was due to the clouds flying low but then the strings proved it was the building swaying.
It’s not a nice feeling but I felt safe nonetheless.
what floor balzas? i had heard the mckinsey office had a few crook people
52nd. McKinsey are quite a bit lower if I’m right.
I really wonder how much the top might sway during a typhoon like that. Also, it would be interesting to see the shock damper move.
I was here when 921, the big one hit. I was in sanxia on the 4th floor … half drunk … when it hit I was just going to switch of the living room lights … no need to, the quake did that for me … I went down on my knees until it stopped shaking, was actually kind of fun but scary at the same time, because you’re waiting (expecting) for the building to collapse. Than i just went to bed, my wife didn’t even wake up I guess. The street was full of people but we just went on sleeping, a couple of after shocks followed. Than aboy 6:00 AM my mother called us from Belgium, she had seen it on the late night news, but to be honest we didn’t know what was going on and where it happend until a few hours later when the electricity was back on for a few hours … scary on the 4th floor, now I live on the 14th floor … on each quake I’m waiting for the intensity to pick up but it never happens as back with 921 … I can feel the slightest shake however, and am always waiting for it to pick up strenght … and electricity to shut down … :s
Yes, the general principle is that the higher up you are, the more you feel. Interestingly though is that in the last few weeks we’ve had 2 small quakes both of which I’ve felt, living on only the 3rd floor, while many of my colleagues / students have not, with some of them on higher / similar floors. And their intensities have only been 2 or 3 in Hsinchu. I hope this says nothing about the quality of my housing…
Some interesting trivia for you: Everyone talks about how terrible 9.21 was, and in terms of damage and loss of life at the epicentre, it certainly was a disaster, but the strongest earthquake of the last 6 years for residents of TAIPEI, was the Easter Sunday earthquake on 31 March 2002 (which caused cranes to fall from the top of TPE 101, which had not been completed at the time).
Check out: http://www.cwb.gov.tw/V4e/index.htm for details.
In fact, the exact measurements, as I recall, were 4.9 in Taipei for 9.21, and 5.0 for 3.31. Much of a muchness, I guess.
that was a big quake that one. we were in ximending and i remember being almost knocked forward off my feet. watching and hearing the buildings twisting was horrible.
isnt there something measure that for every 0.1 increment on the richter scale means 10x more powerful?
Oh, come on, what a stupid question. Isn’t it obvious the equation is: M = log10A + 3log10(8Δt − 2.92) …Just kidding 
I think every full number (eg 4.0 vs 5.0) is 10 times, so every 0.1 is ABOUT (but not really technically) 1 time bigger (does this make sense?).
Check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_scale
Can you IMAGINE what a 9 must feel like, ala Dec 26th last year?