On June 2, Taiwan was rocked by a pretty large earthquake. The magnitude 6.2 temblor resulted in 4 deaths, ~20 reported injuries, and a great deal of modest damage.

EarthquakeVideoMex, a YouTube user/channel with consistently timely access to hard-to-find quake footage, has compiled the rather impressive videos captured during this quake. The Taiwanese appear to have the same affinity for dashboard cameras as the Russians, so a lot of these videos contain the elusive outdoor view of an earthquake occurring, which is pretty cool. In these cases you get to see the real motion of the ground rather than the jerky response of a building swaying or rattling atop it.

The really strong shaking lasts only about 3-5 seconds, but as you can see in some of the clips, the ground continues moving discernibly for upwards of a minute. I’m struck by how violent those few seconds at the beginning are, showing just how much havoc can be wrought by a few quick jolts.

Bonus phenomenon: peripheral view of a rockfall/landslide at 5:45.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ysayAdyw_M]

Let’s all det dash cams!