Taiwan’s ‘Elephant Trunk Rock’ has collapsed

A popular photo spot in northern Taiwan is no more.

Elephant Trunk Rock collapsed into the sea on December 15, according to the New Taipei Ruifang District Office, which manages the area.

The rock formation, which got its name from, well, its resemblance to an elephant trunk, has long been at risk due to erosion. It had been cordoned off from visitors since 2010.

Shen Chuan-chou, a professor in the Department of Geosciences at National Taiwan University, told Taiwan’s official Central News Agency that it was “natural” for the rock to collapse because it was constantly affected by seawater and wind.

The rock’s thin arched shape also made it more precarious.

Elephant Trunk Rock is located on a narrow strip of land called Shen’ao, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the popular tourist area of Jiufen northeast of Taipei.

And Elephant Trunk Rock wasn’t the only natural feature along Taiwan’s rocky northern coast that geologists have been concerned about.

The “Queen’s Head” rock – so named because it “resembles a bust of Queen Elizabeth with a long slender neck” – at Yehliu Geopark is also at risk of collapse.

According to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency, the circumference of the Queen’s Head is now lower than 120 centimeters and is getting thinner every year.

The Maltese island of Gozo has coped with a similar situation in the past.

Its famous limestone “Azure Window,” which had been a set piece on Game of Thrones, collapsed into the sea in 2017.

Two years later, Malta announced plans to build a dramatic steel archway in the spot the Azure Window once occupied, but the project remains unbuilt.

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