The Taiwan Central Weather Bureau reported a Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake at a depth of 32.2 km roughly 42 km off the southeastern Taiwan slightly before 5.25 pm local time (slightly before 9.25 am GMT) on Tuesday 2 March 2021. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but it was felt across Taiwan.
The approximate location of the 2 March 2021 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.
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