921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan

The Chelungpu fault ruptured under Guangfu Junior High School in the earthquake of 21 September 1999, lifting the running track into a step more than two metres high and collapsing the classroom blocks. Instead of clearing the site, it was roofed over and kept: the buckled track, the fallen buildings and the exposed fault are preserved where they fell, with galleries on seismology and on building safety built around them. It is a museum about ground rather than about disaster.

What's there

• The lifted running track - the school track broken into a step by the fault.
• The collapsed classrooms - buildings preserved as they fell, under a protective roof.
• The fault trench - the exposed rupture with its geology explained.
• The engineering galleries - displays on why buildings fail and how they are made not to.

When to go

Year round; the museum closes on Mondays. Weekday mornings bring school groups. The site is largely under cover and works in any weather.

Practical notes

Over two thousand people died in this earthquake and the museum is on the site of a school; it is treated seriously and visitors should too. Labelling is mostly in Mandarin. The subject is not a light one.

Nearby

The Wufeng Lin mansion is nearby, and Taichung is north.

Key facts