The map and text calls attention to faults that may be active and therefore may be significant in planning important structures. Equivocal evidence suggestive of fault creep was found on the Yuli fault and the Hsinhua fault. Fault creep was not found at several places examined along the 1906 fault trace. Tectonic uplift has occurred in Taiwan in the last 10,000 years and application of eustatic sea level curves to published radiocarbon dates shows that the minimum rate of uplift is considerably different in different parts of the island. Incomplete data indicate that the rate is high near Hualien, where an uplift of at least 0.6 m and probably more than 1 m occurred in the 1951 earthquake, and near and south of the 1946 faulting.
Sudden uplifts can have serious consequences for installations near the shore.
Investigation of this process, study of recently active faults, and continuing study of seismicity are necessary parts of a practical earthquake-hazard reduction program. The study of active faults and earthquake history provides a basis for anticipating the location and size of future earthquakes and related phenomena such as surface faulting, landslides, and other ground failures. Taiwan has had and will continue to have many strong earthquakes. During the twentieth century more than 20 earthquakes have resulted in human deaths, and during a 45-year period starting in 1906 faulting ruptured the ground surface at six places. Taiwan is thus a place where earthquakes and faulting should be studied to minimize death and destruction, and where knowledge about these geologic processes can be gained for general application throughout the world.