What the 1999 earthquake did to the hills
Landslides, replanting, and a changed map.
The physical change
The 921 earthquake moved slopes that had been stable for generations. Roads that farms depended on disappeared, and some plots were simply gone.
Replanting took years, and several families used the pause to switch from betel palm to coffee.
The mountain is not finished moving. We just stopped watching.
The long echo
Road access is still the constraint it was in 1999; a single landslide can end a season. Every farm plan includes a fallback route.
If a grower mentions the earthquake in passing, it is usually to explain why a road is where it is.
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