Strong quake causes panic in Taiwan

Serrano, that is not even funny! Look at us here in Japan, all the high tech in the world and we got clobbered up in Tohoku! So Taiwan has Acer, HTC etc..that still will not help them keep earthquakes away, right??

Don't they have the technology to move that island to an area that is not near the junction of those two tectonic plates?

You watched too many sci-fi movies, I guess.

Please stop perpetuating the myth of Japan as high-tech; neon-lit streets and electronic toilets does not equal a high-tech nation.

Japan is still, together with other countries, a high-tech nation, it's not like it has only electronic toilets. But there's not any country in the world that can move an island...seriously. Could Usa do this because it has Apple? Lol. Nasa can't do it anyway. Or, could Samsung with its smartphones? Again, lol. Humans are not able to predict earthquakes either. All our "high-tech" is pitiful, compared to Mother Nature power.

comments are interesting. Taiwan cannot be and should not be moved. But the tectonic plates can be moved/destroyed/pulverized/laser targeted/reshaped/relocated.

Perhaps, in the future artificial islands will be constructed but actually move a landmass, not likely. Earthquakes are the one force that torments beloved Asia with its prosperous, teeming cities, uniquely beautiful women, high speed rail and paradise-like weather. I experienced a tremor when I was stationed on Okinawa. I'll never forget it. If I make it back overseas the one thing I'll fear will be quakes.

yeah what would China say about moving 'its country' away, lol. I just love how they are so adamant about saying that country is there (oh yes everyday for the month I was in Beijing I was forced to hear this from the locals and their television 'programming' as well), but just about everyone I've ever met from Taiwan (usually very warm and kind people) say that they do not belong to China and feel as if their island is it's own country. Shame to hear about the earthquake, I was in Tokyo during 3/11. ~_____~

I think if the US and Europe combined their respective technological expertise, Taiwan could be repositioned away from the earthquake danger-zone that it currently occupies.

O_o;

Alex, ever looked closely at Japan's banking system it's government offices and education facilities recently?

I read costant news about new scientific discoveries in Japan. Don't worry, I know the situation of the country well enough. High-tech is not all about IT.

@letsberealistic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_patents#Top_20_countries_in_2012

But Japan it's all about eletronic toilets...yeah.

in the future artificial islands will be constructed

They already exist, also in Japan.

but actually move a landmass, not likely.

Indeed, I doubt it will be possible.

@letsberealistic: you are very biased, sorry. It's too much evident.

@letsberealistic: how old is that document? It sounds like something from the late 90s. American/Western Japan bashing, exactly how the current American/Western Chinese and Korean bashing. Only look at how Apple acts with Samsung. Lol.

I can just see through the Western propaganda that Western authorities love to produce. AND I'm European. ;)

I think this article is about Taiwan and its big quake?? Not some nutcase trying to argue if Japan is “really" high tech or not, right?? So let's be realistic and understand that when a big quake hits, all the high tech in the world will not save you from being crushed to death by tons of concrete or to drown in a cold dark tsunami!!!

Big EQ's all over the Ring of Fire lately. This large one in Taiwan, the huge one in Tohoku.....so far, Okinawa in the middle of all this has been spared. I hope it's not a matter of time prediction.

exactly how the current American/Western Chinese and Korean bashing.

I meant, the current American/Western China bashing and Korea bashing. I believe it sounds more correct. My point is, everytime a country in the East becomes too much competitive for the West, in the West starts a negative propaganda against it. The first country to become a great economic power in Asia has been Japan, and specially in the 80s/90s, there were tons of western articles against Japan. Progressively, other Asian countries followed Japanese model of growth. Today Japan is still object of this kind of bashing, but China and Korea are becoming more competitive than Japan in some sectors, so in West you see tons of articles against China and Korea. The tone is always the same "they are just copycat nations"!

And all I can do is facepalm.

Anyway, today we have not the technology to move some islands...man, it would be great, but we can't, while we are actually able to build some artifical islands: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artificial_islands

"Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes"

Don't they have the technology to move that island to an area that is not near the junction of those two tectonic plates?