Reviewed by USGS117y ago
M6.8 earthquake in Taiwan
Thursday, September 1, 1910, 14:21:12 UTC · 25.376°N, 121.964°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck in Taiwan on Thursday, September 1, 1910, 14:21:12 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M8.1 on April 12, 1910.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
239 kilotons of TNT
That is about 16 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 501 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
56 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Yangtze and Okinawa plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
15 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 7 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11910 Taiwan EarthquakeApril 12, 1910 · 244 km E of this epicenter
- 7.012 km N of Pizitou, TaiwanApril 13, 1906 · 249 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.910 km NE of Pizitou, TaiwanMarch 16, 1906 · 250 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.813 km ENE of Hualien City, TaiwanNovember 21, 1909 · 153 km S of this epicenter
- 6.73 km WSW of Banqiao, TaiwanApril 14, 1909 · 68 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.519 km SSE of Douliu, TaiwanApril 13, 1906 · 242 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.588 km NW of Hirara, JapanMay 2, 1906 · 273 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 59,517 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1782
Tainan
22 May 1782 · 177 km away
40,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1771M7.4
Ryukyu Islands
24 Apr 1771 · 281 km away
13,486 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1862M6.5
Tainan
6 Jun 1862 · 296 km away · intensity VIII
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1906M6.8
Jiayi
16 Mar 1906 · 247 km away
1,258 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1848M6.8
Zhanghua
3 Dec 1848 · 205 km away · intensity IX
1,001 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1867M7.0
Chilung (Keelung)
18 Dec 1867 · 7 km away
580 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.