Earthquaking

We had a small trembler here last night; it was pretty cool. I'm staying with my friend who is on the fifth floor of an apartment building. I thought it was a truck rolling by, but then the shaking got stronger. My friend said it was an earthquake, and I think I heard someone outside scream. I haven't felt an earthquake in about 13 years; fortunately it wasn't too big. There was a big one in Taiwan about four years ago; about 2500 people died. They say because the earthquakes loosen the soil, when the torrential rains come, massive mudslides occur. There was apparently a huge mudslide a couple months ago at the hot springs resort where I was this weekend. The riverbed was filled in about 30 feet and widened. I saw buildings lying on their sides in the middle of the riverbed; it was pretty wierd. Hotels that were built next to the river have lost their first floors.
Anyways, the epicenter of the earthquake last night is close to the place we're going to tomorrow. Hopefully there won't be any big rains. haha. Environmentalists have felt that the deforestation that occurs in the mountains and hills and the plantings of crops contributed to the mudslides, and the construction of the cross-island highways have denuded the mountains of their root systems which the topsoil in place. Anyways, the mudslides also destroyed parts of the cross-island highways, and the government has no plans to rebuild them. It's been a losing battle so the forest is taking back the mountains. Because there is no cross-island road (hence no bus) I will take the train, which hugs the coast, to get to the other side of the island.