Cleveland students studying abroad faced the largest earthquake Taiwan’s experienced in the 21st century. The students were leaving for their daily activities when the 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck on April 3, around 8 a.m. (GMT +8). Some students described the earthquake as “scary” and others “unexpected.”
The earthquake hit the shore of Hualien, which was only 72 miles from Taipei where the students were staying. With nine people killed by the disaster in the immediate aftermath and over a thousand people injured, concerns about students safety erupted among their families back in America.
The trip abroad numbered 25 students and chaperones who finally got to go study abroad in Taiwan after a devastating pandemic-related cancellation to their 2020 trip to China. The trip to Taipei was for students to complete their senior capstone project, centering on residency research. This was not the only focus, as they toured colleges, and interacted with the community while volunteering in nearby cities. These activities were focused on gaining a further understanding of IB topics such as sharing the planet, environment, and traditional customs.
The fierce natural disaster’s damages were relatively contained thanks to the government’s anticipation of a blow of this magnitude, given that the island had seen a far more devastating trial in 1999, suffering 2,415 casualties. Since then strict construction guidelines and standards have been put in place to prevent such a disaster in the future.
Following the event, parent chaperone Ryan Olsen sent a message to families updating them on the disaster. “Taipei experienced an earthquake – everyone is safe and sound and now on the bus to Jiufen old street,” he wrote.
Additionally, Vice Principal Sean Murray sent a message to Cleveland staff: “Thanks for the well wishes from folks who may have seen the news of the earthquake. We are all safe and sound and it was relatively mild where we are in Taipei.”
Students had mixed feelings about the earthquake. Some feared initially, some stayed calm and resorted back to what they learned in school. Senior Elle Koepping, who was in her room when the earthquake struck, said, “For most of us it was our first earthquake. It was a little bit scary, but we are ok. Initially it was scary, but now we are calm and relaxed.”
Senior Vincent Chen described his experience only having a half second to prepare for the disaster. “Right before the earthquake hit, I saw a notification on my phone (reading ‘[Earthquake Alert] 04/03 7:58 – Felt earthquake alert. Keep calm and seek cover nearby. CWA’) I shouted out to my room ‘Earthquake!’ and everyone got under their bed and covered their head or stood in a doorway. Not a lot happened. We shook for a little while and then went downstairs and resumed our day as normal. It wasn’t life threatening, it was mostly laughs, and we went on with our day,” Chen said.
Senior Keyan Gilley described her experience eating breakfast in the hostel’s common room when it hit. “It was really unexpected, and when it happened we looked at each other and pulled out our phones instead of sheltering. When the city was done shaking, there wasn’t a lot of damage and we just got on our bus and left,” Gilley said.
Murray, the supervising administrator on the trip, described his immediate reaction following the event. “At that time, I wanted to make sure that all students were feeling safe and doing ok. It was confusing because I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until I got emails from staff and families that were concerned. During the moment I didn’t feel that it wasn’t as disastrous as it was portrayed,” he said.
Cleveland students resumed the remainder of their 12-day trip studying in Taipei, and returned home safely on Saturday, April 6.
It was “an experience that I am going to remember for a very long time,” said senior Jakob Ramos.