Roads caved in and bridges collapsed during the severe earthquake on September 21, cutting off access to several areas and hindering rescue and relief missions.

The disastrous scene of the 9/21 earthquake in Formosa.

[Combined report from Formosa] A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter Scale struck Formosa on September 21, 1999 at 1:47 AM. The whole island felt the tremendous shock of the quake. People were shaken out of their sleep, and in great fright some escaped outside, still holding onto their quilts. A chain of continuous tremors followed the main quake. On September 29, an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.8 again hit central Formosa, causing severe damage to the area. To date, the death toll totals more than two thousand.

Upon hearing news of the disasters, Master immediately telephoned to express Her concern to fellow practitioners and victims, and instructed us to take good care of the quake victims. The day after the 9/21 earthquake, fellow practitioners promptly sent NT$10,000,000 (US$312,500) in the name of The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association, to the special account set up by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of China in the Central Bank Treasury for relief of quake disasters.

In addition, The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association provided material and cash relief directly to the victims. Groups of volunteer workers from The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Associations in Taichung, Nantou, Chiayi, Changhua and other places delivered relief to affected areas close to the epicenter in Nantou. These places included the Jiji Village Office, the Nantou Municipal Government Office, Nantou City Hall, Wu Feng, Xin She Village, Puli Town, Yu Chi, Shui Li, Zhu Shan Town, Chung Liao Village, the Dali Village Office, and Lu Gu Village. Our relief work also extended to the other most severely affected regions like Dongxi Town of Taichung in middle Formosa, Xin Zhuang City of Taipei in the northern region, and the Dong Qing Mansion in the Song Shan Precinct of Taipei.

	Receipt for The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association’s contribution of NT$10,000,000 to the quake relief account specified by the Ministry of the Interior.
	Fellow practitioners from all Centers in Formosa work cooperatively to organize relief supplies.

So far, it is estimated that the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association has contributed relief materials valued at more than NT$3,800,000(around US$120,000), including tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, dried foodstuffs, biscuits, rice, oil, salt, instant noodles, slippers, jackets, underwear, towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, milk powder, masks, medicine, mineral water, mobile toilets, garbage bags, loudspeakers, mosquito nets, diesel fuel and batteries for generators, clothing, raincoats, torch lights, batteries, and canvas for building shelters against rain and for eating and sleeping. We also purchased fresh vegetables, fruit and food each day to be delivered to the victims for daily consumption.

Depending on the degree of damage to victims' homes, members of The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association also distributed relief cash and living allowances to them. The rescue team formed by the Nantou fellow practitioners was the first to report to the Nantou Municipal Government, and formed the first rescue team with other participants. Our team was also the first to reach the affected areas.

Fellow practitioners formed relief teams that traveled on foot, and most of the time, these teams were the first relief workers to reach the affected areas. They especially targeted remote areas where the Government and other civilian groups could not provide immediate help, places such as deep in the mountains that were isolated due to rough tracks and damaged roads. From the 23rd to the 25th of September, many of these routes were still gravely threatened by falling rocks. However, our team of fellow practitioners that also included medical personnel, disregarding the dangers and traveling by foot while carrying relief materials on their backs, delivered timely relief to the helpless victims. Around the country, fellow practitioners arranged more than forty light trucks to transport the relief materials; some even formed a team of evacuation vehicles to support the rescue work. To supply generators in the affected areas, The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association provided one hundred cans of diesel fuel valued about NT$200,000 (US$6,250).

The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association’s NT$10,000,000 contribution was reported by the Economics Daily News and the Times Weekly of Formosa.

[Taichung] Due to a breakdown in telecommunications after a massive earthquake that struck central Formosa on September 21, we learned from indirect sources that Master had called from overseas expressing Her great concern about the victims of the disaster and the safety of fellow practitioners. She instructed us to immediately set up a disaster relief center and to waste no time in delivering relief provisions to the earthquake victims. By dawn, fellow practitioners had reported to the Center one by one and volunteered to join the relief team. We listened to the radio broadcasts, and as soon as there was news about an affected area, a team of relief vehicles left to deliver relief supplies to the inhabitants of that region. Fellow practitioners from northern Formosa organized a team of over a dozen four-wheel-drive vehicles to go to Chungliao rural township, where the roads were severely cracked. Medical teams and apparatus vehicles joined the relief work.

As soon as our relief team arrived, the victims came to get their provisions.	Having delivered relief materials to the affected areas, initiates make further inquiries concerning the needs of the victims.

While the phones were dead, fellow practitioners set up radio equipment at the Center to communicate with the Nantou Center through radiotelephones and to promptly offer relief aid and provisions. Dharma Guards wearing their usual yellow vests helped the police to direct the traffic with tacit understanding, earning admiring looks from other volunteer groups for their professional assistance in easing the traffic congestion caused by long queues of vehicles carrying relief supplies to the affected areas.

While the relief work was going on, fellow practitioners contacted each other to find out if all initiates, especially those in the affected areas, were safe. Incidentally, everyone was safe except for having experienced a moment of shock. Only one person suffered a slight injury, and the houses of a few fellow practitioners had either collapsed or were rendered unsuitable for residence. All of the initiates had come out of this disaster safely! Following Master's instructions, the Center is taking special care of the disaster victims. Living allowances and condolence funds have been provided to the victims. As to our fellow practitioners affected by the earthquake, they are extremely thankful to Master for Her blessings so that they survived the disaster; They might have lost their homes, but they were free of inner anxieties and humbly declined the relief aid.

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