Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake off the east coast of Taiwan.

The Taiwan Central Weather Bureau reported a Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake at a depth of 22.8 km roughly 73 km off the eastern coast of Taiwan, slightly before 0.45 am local time on Saturday 12 February 2022 local time (slightly after 4.45 pm on Friday 11 February, GMT). There are no reports of any damage or casualties at this time, but it was felt on the northern and western parts of the island.

 

The approximate location of the 12 February 2022 Taiwan Earthquake. USGS.

Taiwan has a complex tectonic setting, lying on the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plates, with the Eurasian Plate being subducted beneath the Philippine Plate in the South and the Philippine Plate being subducted beneath the Eurasian in the East. Subduction is not a smooth process even in simple settings, with plates typically sticking together as pressure from tectonic expansion elsewhere builds up, then suddenly breaking apart and shifting abruptly, causing Earthquakes.

 

The motion of the tectonic plates beneath Taiwan. The University of Memphis.

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