List of earthquakes in Taiwan
Introduction Taiwan is in a seismically active zone, on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and at the western edge of the Philippine Sea Plate. Geologists have identified 42 active faults on the island, but most of the earthquakes detected in Taiwan are due to the convergence of the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian Plate to the east of the island. Most of the earthquakes registered in Taiwan actually occur off the east coast and cause little damage, whereas smaller quakes beneath the island itself have historically proven more destructive. The first recorded earthquake in Taiwan was in 1624, the founding year of Dutch Formosa. Between 1901 and the year 2000 there were 91 major earthquakes in Taiwan, 48 of them resulting in loss of life. The most recent major earthquake was the 921 earthquake, which struck on 21 September 1999, and claimed 2,415 lives.Many modern buildings in Taiwan are constructed with earthquake safety in mind, including Taipei 101, which had to cope with the dual challenges of being flexible enough to withstand earthquakes, yet rigid enough to resist wind shear. The High Speed Rail system incorporates an automatic safety device to safely bring all trains to a halt when a significant earthquake is detected. Nevertheless, poor construction standards have been blamed for casualties in a number of major earthquakes, including the 1906 Meishan earthquake and the 1999 Jiji earthquake. Inside Taiwan the Central Weather Bureau is the organisation responsible for monitoring and reporting on earthquakes. Large earthquakes are also assessed by the United States Geological Survey. Scientific studies of the seismology of the island started in the Japanese era, when the first seismograph was installed in Taipei by Fusakichi Omori's company.
Earthquakes Significant earthquakes are listed here from 1736 to the present. Starting with the Japanese era in 1895 there were major improvements in detection technology, allowing more detailed gathering of data. Date Areas Lat Long Depth(km)  MMI Deaths Injuries  2022-09-18  Taitung  23.159  121.316  10.0  6.9   IX 12022-03-22  Taitung  23.409  121.559  24.0  6.7  1Power outages / Bridge collapsed 2022-01-03  Hualien  23.997  122.235  28.7  6.2  Some buildings were damaged. 2021-10-24  Yilan  24.571  121.830  64.5  6.2    2021-07-13 Hualien 23.902 121.623 10.0 5.2  IIIMinor damage 2019-08-07  Yilan  24.478  121.930  20.8  5.8    2019-04-18  Hualien  24.037  121.650  20.0  6.1   VI  1   2018-02-06  Hualien  24.134  121.659  17.0  6.4   VIII  17  277 Some buildings collapsed   2018-02-04  Hualien  24.157  121.708  12.0  6.1    2017-02-10  Tainan, Taipei  22.83  120.22  15.8  5.3   VII   4  Power outages   2016-02-06  Tainan, Kaohsiung  22.94  120.59  23  6.4   VII  117  550  9   2015-04-20  Yilan  24.05  122.37  5  6.4   V  1     2013-10-31  Hualien  23.62  121.43  19.5  6.3   VII  0     2013-06-02  Island-wide  23.87  121.0  10.0  6.2   VII  5  18   2013-03-27  Island-wide  23.9  121.07  19.4  5.9   V  1  97    2012-02-26  Pingtung  22.75  120.75  26.3  6.4   0    2010-03-04  Kaohsiung  22.92  120.73  5  6.3   VI   96    2009-12-19  Hualien  23.76  121.69  43  6.4   VI   6    2006-12-26  Pingtung  21.69  120.56  44.1  7.1   VII  2   3   21.97  120.42  50.2  6.9  V  2004-10-15  Taipei, Su-ao  24.5  122.696   6.7        2004-05-01  Hualien  24.1  121.95  17.8  5.8   2    2002-05-15  Yilan, Hualien  24.6  121.9  5  6.2   VI  1    2002-03-31  Hualien, Taipei  24.2  122.1  9.6  7.1    7   6  2000-06-11  Nantou  23.9  121.1  10.2  6.4    2    2000-05-17  Nantou  24.2  121.1  3  5.3   3     1999-09-21  Island-wide  23.9  120.8  8  7.7   X+  2,415     1998-07-17  Nantou  23.5  120.7  3  6.2   5    1995-06-25  Yilan  24.6  121.7  40  6.0    1   6  1995-02-23  Hualien  24.2  121.7  21.7  6.2    2    1994-09-16  Taiwan Strait  22.5  118.7  13  6.8    0   0   1994-06-05  Yilan  24.4  121.8  5.3  6.4   VII  1   1  1990-12-13  Hualien  23.9  121.5  3  6.7   VII  2   3  1986-11-15  Hualien  24.0  121.8  15  7.4   VIII  15   37   1986-05-20  Hualien  24.1  121.6  16  6.2   VIII  1    1982-01-23  Yilan, Hualien  24.0  121.6  3  6.5   1    1978-12-13  Hualien  23.3  121.6  4  7.0   VI  2    1972-04-24  Hualien  23.5  121.4  15  7.0   VII  5   50   1972-01-25  Taitung  22.5  122.3  33  7.3   VI  1   5  1967-10-25  Yilan  24.4  122.1  20  6.8   VII  2   21  1966-03-13 Hualien  24.2  122.7  42  7.5   VII  4   24  1964-01-18  Chiayi, Tainan  23.2  120.6  18  6.5   VI  106   10,924   1963-03-04  Yilan  24.6  121.1  5  6.3    1     1963-02-13  Yilan  24.35  122.06  47  7.2   VII  3–15  3–18  6   1959-08-15  Pingtung  21.7  121.3  20  7.1   16   1,214   1959-04-27  Northeast Taiwan  24.1  123.0  150  7.7   1   9  1957-10-20  Hualien  23.7  121.5  10  6.6   4    1957-02-24  Hualien  23.8  121.8  30  7.3   11   44   1951-11-25  Hualien  23.3  121.3   7.3   17    1951-10-22  Hualien  23.9  121.7  4  7.3   68    1946-12-05  Tainan  23.1  120.3  5  6.1   74   1,954   1943-12-02  Taitung  22.5  121.5  40  6.8    3   139  1943-10-23  Hualien  23.8  121.5  5  6.2   1   1  1941-12-17  Chiayi  23.4  120.5  12  7.1   360   4,520   1935-07-17  Hsinchu, Taichung  24.6  120.7  30  6.2   44   1,734  1935-04-21  Miaoli, Taichung  24.4  120.8  5  7.1   3,276   17,907   1930-12-08  Tainan  23.3  120.4  20  6.3    4   49  1927-08-25  Tainan  23.3  120.5   6.8    9–30  27–100  200–214   1922-12-02  Hualien  24.6  122.0   6.0   1   1  1922-10-15  Hualien  24.6  122.3  20  5.9   6    1922-09-22  Hualien  24.5  122  20  7.6   5   14  1920-06-05  Hualien  24.6  121.9  20  8.2   8  24  273  1917-01-07  Central Taiwan  23.9  120.9  shallow  5.5     187  1917-01-05  Central Taiwan  24.0  121.0  shallow  6.2   54   130  1916-11-15  Central Taiwan  24.1  120.9  3  6.2   1   97  1916-08-28  Central Taiwan  24.0  121.0  45  6.8   16   614   1910-04-12  Keelung  25.1  122.9  200  8.3   60   13   1909-04-15  Taipei  23.7  121.5  80  7.3   9   122   1908-01-11  Hualien  23.7  121.4  10  7.3   2   3   1906-04-14  Tainan  23.4  120.4  20  6.6   15   1,794  1906-03-17  Chiayi  23.6  120.5  6  6.8   IX  1,258–1,266    14,218–30,021   1904-11-06  Chiayi  23.6  120.3  7  6.1   145   661   1904-04-24  Chiayi  23.5  120.3  –  6.1   3   66  1897-03-15  Yilan, Taipei  –  –  –   –  56   50   1882-12-09  Island-wide  23.0  121.4  –  ~7.5   10   40  1881-02-18  Taipei, Hsinchu, Miaoli  24.6  120.7  –  ~6.2   11   210  1867-12-18  Greater Taipei 25.3  121.7  –  ~7.0   580     1865-11-06  Taipei 24.9  121.6  –  ~6.0   "many"    1862-06-07  Changhua  23.2  120.2  –  ~7.0   over 500   over 500   1848-12-03  Chiayi  24.1  120.5  –  ~7.1   1,030   13,993   1845-03-04  Taichung  24.1  120.7  –  ~6.0   381   4220   1815-10-13  From Chiayi northwards  24.0  121.7  –  ~7.7   113   243   1811-03-17  From Chiayi northwards  23.8  121.8  –  ~7.5   21   41   1792-08-09  Yunlin 23.6  120.5  –  ~7.1   617   24,621   1736-01-30  Tainan  23.1  120.5  –  ~6.5   372   698   = Unknown magnitude scale,  = Richter magnitude scale,  = surface wave magnitude, and  = moment magnitude scale. The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described are also applicable to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.
See also *Geology of Taiwan
References Sources:*Central Weather Bureau**  Damage list 1900 before**  Damage list 1900 after**  damage list 2000 after**  MOTC-87-11 (PDF)*
External links * Most recent earthquakes in Taiwan (English): Central Weather Bureau* Most recent earthquakes in Taiwan (Chinese): Central Weather Bureau (more detailed than the English version). * Most recent earthquakes in Taiwan (Chinese): Central Weather Bureau