Hsinchu

Earthquakes near Hsinchu through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 40 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Hsinchu, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 21 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 8.2 on June 5, 1920 (1920 Hualien, Taiwan Earthquake).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Hsinchu in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: an earthquake on May 22, 1782 (Tainan), for which NOAA records 40,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 33 here, back to 1604. NOAA records deaths in 29 of the events here, 51,036 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.4 on April 2, 2024 (15 km S of Hualien City, Taiwan). NOAA’s record here begins on December 29, 1604 with an earthquake (Fujian Province: Off Coast). 18 of the 33 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Hsinchu, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 15 m, on December 18, 1867.

The events

  • April 2, 2024Earthquake · M 7.415 km S of Hualien City, Taiwan · 18 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • June 5, 1920Earthquake · M 8.21920 Hualien, Taiwan Earthquake · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 18, 1867Tsunami · 15 m hereE. China SeaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 22, 1782EarthquakeTainan · 40,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • December 29, 1604Earthquake · M 8.0 (est.)Fujian Province: Off CoastNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Hsinchu when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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