Satellite imagery from Formosat-5 showed the extent of damage resulting from Wednesday’s earthquake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and magnitude 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, with experts saying that the contrast of images taken before and after the earthquake could help with the disaster relief effort.
Experts added that rain from an incoming front yesterday would affect the already loosened soil caused by landslides and warned rescue teams to be careful onsite.
Taiwan Space Agency Formosat-5 Project head Chang Li-hsueh (張莉雪) said yesterday the agency had considered using satellite imagery, adding that it was fortunate that the satellite orbited over Taiwan three hours after the earthquake struck.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Space Agency
As the satellite could only take snapshots of areas up to 24km, the agency had reset the mission parameters for the satellite so that the satellite would prioritize taking imagery of eastern Taiwan, she said, adding that the parameter reset had been completed six minutes before the satellite passed over Taiwan.
The agency contrasted the photos taken on the day from Formosat-5 with those taken by the Pleiades satellite, also taken on the day, provided by the National Central University, and pre-earthquake imagery taken by Formosat-5 on Feb. 21 and March 4, with multiple sites of suspected landslides on the upstream areas in the mountainous regions of Hualien County, Chang said, adding that the head of Gueishan Island (龜山島) had also shown signs of a landslide.
Further statistical analyses conducted on Thursday, contrasted with imagery taken in February, showed distinctive geological changes in the mountain regions near Hualien County’s Sioulin Township (秀林), with about 20.6 square kilometers experiencing landslides.
Areas affected include the Nansi Dam (南溪壩), upstream of Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪), Chang said, adding that satellite imagery showed a vast dust cloud upstream of Qnragan Rikver (卡那岡溪), Liwu River (立霧溪) and Sanchan River (三棧溪), which large-scale landslides could cause, Chang said.
Further imagery taken by Formosat-5 on April 5 confirmed large landslide areas in the mountains’ upstream regions, she added.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin
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