Travelscope crew in the midst of Taiwan Earthquake!

Posted on March 04, 2010 By Joseph

We were rocking and rolling in Lugang, Taiwan yesterday.

Travelscope is on-location in Taiwan shooting two shows to be aired next year as part of Season V of Travelscope.  While we were partaking of the bountiful breakfast buffet at the Leader Hotel in Lugang, the room began to sway.  That’s a bit disconcerting when you are sitting at the bottom of an 13-story atrium.  Since we’re Californians we knew pretty quickly what was happening.  The wait staff scattered while we sat pondering exactly what we should do.  Jon Speyers, our cameraman, a recent arrival in California from Michigan, had heard somewhere that he needed to stand in a doorway so he quickly joined the wait staff in the entrance to the kitchen.  Tad Chamberlain, our sound man, and I stood in the middle of the room looking toward the roof.  Not sure if we were preparing to catch a bit of the
13th floor or not, we passed the 15 seconds of shaking doing nothing.  The earthquake subsided and we all casually left the area as quickly as we could.  Meanwhile our line producer, Elizabeth Shober, was in the lobby trying to convince the front desk manager that she should join her under the sturdy office desk in the business center.  Maxine Lu, our Taiwan Tourism representative, was taking it all in stride. It seems Taiwan exists because of the clashing of plates and the island has frequent small shakers that cause little or no damage.  Although an earthquake early in the decade caused considerable damage, in this case, it was a matter of all’s well that ends well.  Except for some roadway damage and a few toppled stone walls we have not heard of any extensive damage in the country or, thank God, loss of life.  Thanks to all of our friends, family and fans that contacted us via email, facebook and cell phone to express their concern. 

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