StEER: 2024 Hualien City Earthquake Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR)

Given this event’s strong potential to generate new knowledge, StEER considered activating its standard Level 1 response. However, upon consulting with colleagues in the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE), StEER opted to instead play a supporting role to NCREE efforts already locally documenting the event, and an official response page was instituted at the StEER website to house any products generated by this collaboration. NCREE’s rapid access to the affected area enabled a unique form of Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR) that included both data from third-party sources and from the NCREE-field-collected data. The report is intended to:
provide an overview of the earthquake’s intensity and tectonic setting to characterize the strong motion impacts to the built environment,
overview the regulatory environment and construction practices in the affected area,
synthesize preliminary reports of damage to buildings and other infrastructure, and
provide recommendations for continued study of this event by StEER and the wider engineering reconnaissance community.
While advancements in seismic retrofitting techniques and the Taiwanese government's commitment to strengthening aging buildings have significantly enhanced public safety, this event reiterates the importance of redoubling these efforts by ensuring that new construction complies with modern seismic standards and that existing structures, particularly residential and mixed-use construction, undergo phased retrofitting strategies. Continued advancement of seismic hazard maps and structural health monitoring initiatives are also warranted.