Taiwan hit by 7.5 Earthquake

[Sakiale]

the epicenter was literally within miles of the house my mom grew up in, the town outside of the u.s. that ive been to most often. i nearly had a heart attack and started crying when the news broke, fearing the worst... luckily we have great construction standards and infrastructure, especially since the devastating 9/21/1999 earthquake. 

latest count is 9 dead and 963 injured, terrible and very scary but im thankful it wasnt any worse. seems like nobody in my extended family was affected, but i imagine hualien will take several weeks to clean up, and the central highway sustained heavy damage from several landslides. crackheads on twitter talking about china did it with chinese haarp in preparation for an imminent invasion while biden is still in office but, while i cant disprove that, its an absolutely idiotic theory for several reasons.

here's hoping all the people still trapped or missing are extricated alive and well, and repairs run smoothly.

i still remember sitting in my deceased grandma's bedroom in hualien, being forced to pray with my mom, in 2009 when a 6.4 quake hit... one of the scariest experiences of my life, it was short but more violent than any other quake ive lived through (which is quite a few). i ran outside in a panic, my mom sat there stoically praying and didnt even flinch.