A magnitude 5.8 earthquake in late August off Green Island has caused catastrophic structural damage to Heimao Reef, a famous 500-year-old mushroom-shaped coral formation. Scuba divers discovered severe fractures across the massive hump coral structure. Marine researchers from Academia Sinica warn that while natural disasters cannot be prevented, human stressors such as dragging boat anchors, reckless diving practices and untreated island sewage pose an even greater long-term threat to Taiwan’s fragile coral ecosystems.