Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake hits Taiwan, killing at least nine people.

The Taiwan Central Weather Bureau has reported a Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake at a depth of 15.5 km, about 25 km to the south of the city of Hualien, Taiwan, slightly before 8.00 am local time on Wednesday 3 April 2024 (slightly before midnight on Tuesday 2 April, GMT) on Sunday 18 September 2022. The event is reported to have killed at least nine people, with more than 900 more injured, and to have caused several buildings to collapse, as well as triggering a series of landslides. The Earthquake was felt on the Chinese mainland as far north as Shanghai and Nanjing. 

The approximate location of the 3 April 2024 Taiwan Earthquake. USGS.

The event was the largest Earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years, and was followed by 76 aftershocks within the next five ours, thirteen of which had Magnitudes above 5.0, with the largest being a Magnitude 6.4 event. Dozens of buildings are reported to have collapsed in city of Hualien, and landslides triggered by the Earthquake are reported to have trapped large numbers of vehicles and their occupants inside tunnels on the Suhua Highway, which runs along the east coast of the island between Yilan to Hualian.

A collapsed building in Hualien following a Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake on 3 April 2024. Taiwan National Fire Agency/Reuters.

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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Magnitude 5.5 Earthquake in Hualien County, Taiwan.

The Taiwan Central Weather Bureau reported a Magnitude 5.5 Earthquake at a depth of 10.5 km roughly 19.2 km to the southwest of the city of Hualien in northeastern Taiwan at about 7.00 pm local time (about 11.00 am GMT) on Saturday 15 February 2020. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but it was felt across most of northern Taiwan.

The approximate location of the 15 February 2020 Hualien 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.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

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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 30.3 km roughly 54 kn off the coast of Hualian County in eastern Taiwan slightly after 5.20 am local time on Sunday 16 December 2018 (slightly after 9.20 pm GMT on Saturday 15 December). There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but it was felt across much of northern Taiwan.

 The approximate location of the 16 December 2018 Hualian 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.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

 

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Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake kills at least four in Taiwan.

The Taiwan Central Weather Bureau reported a Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake at a depth of 10.6 km on the coast of Hualian County in eastern Taiwan at about 11.50 pm local time (about 3.50 pm GMT) on Tuesday 6 February 2017. Four people have now been confirmed dead following this event, with at least 140 more missing and 255 people known to have been injured, many of them critically. The majority of those affected lived in four large apartment blocks in Hualian that have partially collapsed following the event. Several thousand more people have been left without water and electricity following the event, and schools and other public services are expected to remain closed in Hualian County on Wednesday 7 February. People have reported feeling the event across Taiwan and on parts of the Chinese mainland.

Apartment building in Hualian County, Taiwan, which is listing heavily after collapsing on one side following an Earthquake in Taiwan on 6 February 2018. Tian Jun-hsiung/AP.

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.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

The approximate location of the 6 February 2018 Hualian Earthquake. USGS.

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