TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — According to data gathered by satellite over the four months since the 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan on April 3, the elevation for portions of Taiwan’s east coast landscape increased by over 30 cm. 

The greatest total elevation increase recorded from the earthquake was measured near Shoufeng train station in Hualien at 39.3 cm. The most extreme change in horizontal displacement was measured near Dongguanchu Station in Taitung County at 32.7 cm. 

The measurements were announced in a report from the Ministry of the Interior detailing measurements taken by the domestically produced Global Navigation Satellite System, per CNA. The system recorded measurements consistently from 247 detection points over the past four months and found significant differences in elevation at 138 of the detection points compared to measurements taken on April 2.

Although the most significant shifts were on the east coast, it is estimated that the elevation of points across Taiwan increased by over a centimeter. The report indicates that detection points in the northern region increased between 1 and 4 cm, while points in the western part of Taiwan increased 1 to 6 cm, and those in southern Taiwan increased between 1 and 2 cm. 

Much of the transformation to Taiwan’s landscape occurred between April 3 and April 22, a period that saw well over 1,000 aftershocks, with more than 300 ranging between a magnitude of 4 and 5. The massive temblor, and the first 237 aftershocks over the subsequent 19 hours, reportedly packed the power of 39 atomic bombs. 

The Ministry of the Interior noted that over the past four years, Hualien’s landscape has been subject to an extreme climb in average elevation. Since 2020, Hualien County has experienced an elevation increase of 49.1 centimeters, with the highest point of horizontal displacement recorded at 43.8 centimeters, per CNA.