The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake, known in Chinese colloquially by its regnal year as the Jiajing Great Earthquake "嘉靖大地震" or officially by its epicenter as the Hua County Earthquake "华县地震", occurred in the early morning of 2 February 1556 in Huaxian, Shaanxi during the Ming dynasty.
The Huadong Valley or Hualien–Taitung Valley, also known as East Rift Valley, the Longitudinal Valley or as the Nakasendō Plain during the era of Japanese rule, is a long and narrow valley located between the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range of eastern Taiwan, stretching about 180 km (110 mi) from Hualien City at the north to Taitung City at the south..
The 1920 Haiyuan earthquake occurred on December 16 in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province, Republic of China at 19:05:53. It was also called the 1920 Gansu earthquake because Ningxia was a part of Gansu Province when the earthquake occurred. It caused destruction in the Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area and was assigned the maximum intensity on the Mercalli intensity scale. About 258,707-273,407 died, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in China and disasters in China by death toll.
The 1964 Baihe earthquake, also known as the Great Baihe earthquake, measured 6.3 local magnitude, and occurred at 20:04 CST (UTC+8) on 18 January in Baihe Township of Tainan County, Taiwan. The hypocenter of the earthquake was 20 kilometers deep. The earthquake killed 106 people, destroyed 10,924 buildings, and caused a great fire in Chiayi City. It was the sixth deadliest earthquake in 20th century Taiwan, and the third deadliest post-World War II, after the 1999 Jiji earthquake and the 2016 Taiwan earthquake.
The 1951 East Rift Valley earthquakes were a series of earthquakes which struck eastern Taiwan from 22 October 1951 to 5 December 1951, four of which registered at 7 or greater on the moment magnitude scale, the largest of those being magnitude 7.3 and 7.8 quakes on November 24. Altogether the quakes killed 85 people.
The 1946 Hsinhua earthquake, also referred to as the 1946 Tainan earthquake was a magnitude 6.1 earthquake which hit Tainan County, Taiwan, on 5 December 1946, at 06:47. The quake claimed 74 lives and was the eighth deadliest earthquake in twentieth century Taiwan.
The 2010 Yushu earthquake struck on April 14 and registered a magnitude of 6.9 Mw or 7.1 Ms. It originated in Yushu, Qinghai, China, at 7:49 am local time. According to the Xinhua News Agency, 2,698 people were confirmed dead, 270 missing and 12,135 injured, 1,434 of them severely. The epicenter was located in Rima village (日玛村/日麻村), Upper Laxiu township (上拉秀乡) of Yushu County, in remote and rugged terrain, near the border of Tibet Autonomous Region, about 30 km from Gyêgu town or Jyekundo, the seat of Yushu County, and about 240 km from Qamdo. The epicenter was in a sparsely populated area on the Tibetan plateau that is regularly hit by earthquakes.
The 1994 Taiwan Strait earthquake occurred on 16 September 1994, at 14:20 local time in the southern Taiwan Strait. The magnitude of this earthquake was given as 6.8 by the USGS and 7.3 by Fujian Seismological Bureau. The epicenter was located about 150 to 180 km from the coast of the border of Guangdong and Fujian, and about 150 km southwest of Taiwan.
The 1932 Changma earthquake occurred at 10:04:27 local time on 25 December. With an estimated magnitude of 7.6 on the surface-wave magnitude scale, and a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, the quake destroyed 1,167 houses and caused 275 to 70,000 deaths and 320 injuries.
The island of Taiwan was formed approximately 4 to 5 million years ago at a convergent boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate. In a boundary running the length of the island and continuing southwards, the Eurasian Plate is sliding under the Philippine Sea Plate. In the northeast of the island, the Philippine Sea Plate slides under the Eurasian Plate. Most of the island comprises a huge fault block tilted to the west.
The 1966 Hualien earthquake occurred on March 13 at . The epicenter was located in the offshore area between Yonaguni Island, Japan and Hualien, Taiwan.
The 1963 Su-ao earthquake occurred on February 13 at 16:50 local time. The epicenter was located off the coast of Taiwan, near Su-ao, Yilan County. It had a magnitude of 7.3. The number of reported dead was 3–15 and the number of injured was 3–18.
At 23:50 (UTC+8) on 6 February 2018, an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale hit Taiwan. The epicenter was on the coastline near Hualien, which was the most severely affected area, with a maximum felt intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale. At least 17 deaths were reported, with 285 injured. The maximum foreshock was recorded on 4 February 2018, at 21:56:40. The epicenter was located at Hualien County, Taiwan, reaching a scale of ML 5.8.
The 1973 Luhuo earthquake struck near the town of Zhaggo in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, China on February 6, 1973, with a magnitude of 7.6 . The earthquake had a maximum intensity of X (Extreme) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. It resulted in between 2,175 and 2,204 deaths and a further 2,743 injuries. Serious and widespread destruction occurred in Luhuo County.
The Chelungpu Fault is an active fault located in Taiwan. It caused the 1999 Jiji earthquake.
The 2021 Luxian earthquake was a damaging seismic event occurring in the early hours of September 16 at 04:33 China Standard Time. The surface-wave magnitude (Ms ) 6.0 or moment magnitude (Mw ) 5.4 earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 7.5 km and severe shaking in an area of 4,000 square kilometers was assigned a maximum intensity of VIII on the China seismic intensity scale. Three people were killed and 146 injured when the earthquake struck Lu County, Luzhou, Sichuan Province. At least 36,800 buildings were affected, 7,800 of them seriously damaged or completely destroyed, causing about a quarter of a billion dollars worth of damage.
On June 1, 2022, a moment magnitude (Mw ) 5.8 or surface-wave magnitude (Ms ) 6.1 earthquake struck Lushan County in Ya'an, Sichuan Province, China. At least four people were killed and 42 were injured. The earthquake had a maximum intensity of VIII on the China seismic intensity scale, causing damage to many homes and triggering rockslides.
Two earthquakes affected Taitung and Hualien Counties, Taiwan within hours of each other. The first earthquake struck Taitung on September 17, 2022, occurring with a magnitude of 6.5 Mw , causing minor damage and some injuries. The second earthquake occurred roughly a day after the first tremor struck the same area, with a stronger magnitude of 6.9 Mw . Both earthquakes had maximum Modified Mercalli intensities of VII and IX (Violent), respectively.
