Taiwan Earthquake Damage Rendered In 3D

Instant analysis: Screen capture from the navigable 3D video, produced Feb. 6 by National Cheng Kung University.

by ROB McMANAMY | Feb 9, 2016

While the human and physical toll of Saturday’s 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Tainan, Taiwan, is still being calculated, the developers of the 22-year-old, 17-story apartment complex at the heart of the most visible damage were arrested today and charged with “professional negligence”.

In the quake’s aftermath, emergency rescue personnel uncovered what appeared to be tin cans stacked inside structural columns, allegedly used as filler (pictured at bottom). 

• According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency: “The Tainan District Prosecutors Office made the decision to take [the former chairman and two other executives of the now-defunct Wei-guan Company] into custody after prosecutors found that Lin, with the help of his partners, had started another company under a different business entity after filing for bankruptcy upon completion of the [Golden Dragon] apartment several years ago.”

At press time, the earthquake’s fatality count had reached 40 (most in the Wei-guan Golden Dragon apartments), but more than 100 people were still missing, according to local authorities. Much more details are still to come, undoubtedly including several months of forensic analysis.

Already adding to the public’s understanding of what happened is an extraordinary 3D rendering and video produced within hours of the disaster by National Cheng Kung University and posted on the Sketchfab modeling website. “This type of data is usually [from] video footage processed with photogrammetry,” explained a Sketchfab spokesperson n which is the practice of creating two- and three-dimensional measurements from photographs. A Sketchfab spokesperson explained to Mashable,

維冠大樓倒塌3D模型(2016/2/6拍攝製作)
by National Chang Kung University Museum
on Sketchfab

“This type of data is usually [from] video footage processed with photogrammetry,” a Sketchfab spokesperson told Mashable this week. The practice creates two- and three-dimensional measurements from photographs, the modeling expert added.

Tainan’s Golden Dragon apartments were the site of at least 39 fatalities caused by the Feb. 6 earthquake. On Feb. 9, developers of the complex were arrested. Officials allege that cans (below) were used as filler in structural columns.

Above photos from AFP/Getty Images.