The Miracle Under the Sea

Just after dinnertime on December 26, 2006, the seabed off the southern tip of Taiwan suddenly lurched. Eight minutes later, it lurched again. The region had been struck by two major earthquakes that could be felt as far away as Hong Kong. Over the next few hours, coastal Taiwan was so heavily damaged that one of the reactors at the nearby Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant was forced into an emergency shutdown. The event left two people dead and 45 injured. Thankfully, the emergency response was quick. Power was restored within hours, and, by the next day, the cleanup had commenced. What many international commenters failed to realize at the time was that the damage on land was only half the story.