On September 21, 1999 the island nation of Taiwan suffered one of the most powerful and destructive earthquakes in decades. Registering 7.6 on the Reichter scale, the earthquake claimed the lives of over 2,200 people, injured other 9,000, and left about 80,000 homeless. The central counties of Nantou, Taichung, and Yunlin were hardest hit. Over 14,000 housing units were destroyed by the quake, raising questions as to the quality of the construction. The government has undertaken the enormous task of investigating why so many buildings constructed within the past decade collapsed from the impact...