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Drawing on an account never before told in English, we visit Taiwan in the company of French war correspondent Reginald Kann. Upon his arrival in Taihoku (Taipei), he hurries down to the city of Chiayi to investigate the aftermath of the massive 7.1 magnitude Meishan Earthquake of March 17, 1906. Kann reports on the damage and the relief efforts being carried out by Taiwan's relatively new Japanese masters. He gives us a fascinating look at the disaster (which took 1,258 lives) and also Japanese colonial rule as it was moving from military subjugation to development. The Frenchman’s “Report on Formosa” was published in French and Dutch. Now, thanks to AI and the talents of a Formosa Files fan, we can bring you the tale in English.
Cover image shows damage from the 1906 Meishan earthquake, via Wikimedia Commons.
Edited via Wikipedia: French war correspondent Reginald Kann wrote, “Report on Formosa,” which offered many descriptions of the quake’s destruction and the relief effort. Another person to write about it was Fusakichi Omori, a pioneering Japanese seismologist who arrived shortly after the earthquake. Omori believed that the high number of casualties was due to the construction of the local houses. Most houses were then made of loose cement with mud, and the combination of sun-dried mud brick walls and heavy roofing beams, Omori thought, was responsible for many dwellings collapsing. Omori also found evidence of soil liquefaction, and stated that the town of Bishō (Meishan) had been completely destroyed by the quake.
Below: Japanese-era poster promoting all the powers colonial police officers have in Taiwan. Photo courtesy of Hanlin Publishing Company.
Below: Map of the isoseismic lines of the 1906 Meishan Earthquake.
Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became was famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
