Big landslide rips through roof of closed Yuanshan bowling alley
Last week’s days of downpours dampened moods and destroyed infrastructure, including a bowling alley in Yuanshan that had part of its roof crushed by a landslide last night. The bowling alley closing down a couple weeks ago was a blessing in disguise, because the building was vacant, yet the landslide also didn’t spare local hiking trails, which could be permanently closed for safety’s sake.
There’s an enormous hole in the roof of this bowling alley in Taipei’s Yuanshan District. A massive landslide of rocks and trees hit the building’s roof, resulting in the ceiling’s steel frames being exposed to the light of day as well as some bowling lanes suffering damage.
Wang Yu-chun
FTV Reporter
When you’re here in-person, you can see how the trees and boulders punctured a hole in the ceiling of the bowling alley. There’s also pieces of concrete strewn about this startling scene.
Due to a days-long stretch of heavy rains, on June 28 at night a shallow landslide weighing around 400 tons punctured a hole in the building’s ceiling, causing damage to about 10 square meters of the building. Yet, as fate would have it, the bowling alley closed down half a month ago, and so no one was inside when the landslide hit. Despite there being no injuries or casualties, the owner was visibly emotional about the situation.
Chen Chao-chung
Manager of bowling alley
It’s fortunate that we closed down, because on Sunday nights there’d be so many people inside, so if something like this were to happen during business hours… Right now I’ll be handling clean-up of the wreckage, but the building’s future is out of my hands.
On Monday morning, a team from Taipei City’s Geotechnical Engineering Office visited the site, doing an on-site inspection that included the building’s interior and exterior as well as the mountain behind the bowling alley. They discovered the gully erosion, which is due to high soil water content levels, and social trails created decades ago have been eroded. With the ground’s foundation suspended in mid-air, future landslides could happen at any time. Fortunately, the landslide hit the bowling alley, as this large landslide could’ve tumbled down onto Zhongshan North Road.
Hsia Hsien-tung
Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office
The entire area of the landslide is about 30m wide by 60m long, which is about 1,800 square meters. The slope of the landslide area is pretty steep, so the removal process might take some time. Our preliminary estimation is that we hope to be able to get it done within two weeks.
The hiking trails near the bowling alley have been cordoned off, and it’s feared that they won’t be re-opened to the public in the future. Despite the landslide area no longer being on bedrock, meaning the area’s situation is more stable, the city’s Geotechnical Engineering Office isn’t taking any chances, as it will continue to send out engineers to monitor the area.
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2026-06-29
