921 earthquake remembered with documentary ahead of 25th anniversary

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) The de facto Canadian embassy in Taiwan on Thursday held a premiere screening of a documentary that features a Canadian who was in Taiwan during a catastrophic earthquake that struck the country in 1999.

Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the Jiji Earthquake, more commonly known as the "921 earthquake" in Taiwan, which took place in Jiji, Nantou County, on Sept. 21, 1999.

The magnitude-7.3 quake took more than 2,400 lives, and left tens of thousands of people injured.

The documentary, titled "Revisiting 921" and made by Taiwanese director Roger Cheng (鄭凱駿), follows the journey of Canadian photojournalist, David Smith, on his return to Taipei where he was based when the earthquake struck 25 years ago.

The 20-plus-minute film records Smith meeting again three individuals he photographed 25 years ago to understand how the earthquake continues to shape their lives.

The three individuals Smith photographed in 1999 were a Taipei firefighter, a Taichung rescue worker and a two-day-old girl who was trapped in her rural village due to the quake.

Speaking virtually at the premiere held at the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT), Smith, who has since returned to Canada, said it was "really special coming back and doing the documentary."

"Covering it 25 years ago, it's still strong in my heart," Smith said.

"All the memories and feelings and just the people, the Taiwanese people you meet and how much they suffered and how they came together to help each other and things," he said. "Coming back to the documentary brought back a lot of those memories. It was very special meeting the people from 25 years ago."

"I feel really fortunate to be able to do that. I'm very thankful," he added.

Jim Nickel, the head of the CTOT which represents Canadian interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties, said that the 1999 quake was "a very monumental event" in Taiwan.

"I'm also pleased to note that here in Taiwan, 25 years later, Taiwan's ability to respond to those kinds of emergencies, and the kind of resilience that Taiwan has for earthquakes, typhoons, these kind of events, has really strengthened over a quarter century and makes everyone here much more safe and secure," he added.