There was an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 tonight just off the south coast of Taiwan (with an aftershock measuring 7.0). So far reports indicate that only one building fell down in Pingtung (the city in which my grandmother and various other relatives live); we have been unable to contact her because the phone system is down. Immediately after the quake, my aunt called from Taichung to tell us that her kids freaked out and that everyone ran out of the building (she was teaching; kids go to school at night here).

We were on the streets of Taipei after eating at Din Tai Fung and didn’t feel anything, even though it was reported to have been quite strong here as well. And although there was a tsunami warning in the Philippines as a result of the quake, it never materialized.

Quite a few near-misses lately! We were in Pingtung just a few days ago. In August of this year, a volcano in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea erupted days before I landed, and two years ago I was in Indonesia for the big quake and tsunami (luckily for me, I was on the eastern border, too far away to feel the effects).