Taipei

Earthquakes near Taipei through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 53 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Taipei, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 18 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 Taipei in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.1 on April 20, 1935 (14 km N of Taichung, Taiwan), for which NOAA records 3,276 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 29 here, back to 1694. NOAA records deaths in 24 of the events here, 9,310 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.6 on December 27, 2025 (29 km ESE of Yilan, Taiwan). NOAA’s record here begins in April 1694 with an earthquake (Taibei (Taipei)). 13 of the 29 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Taipei. The highest water NOAA records here was 15 m, on December 18, 1867.

The events

  • December 27, 2025Earthquake · M 6.629 km ESE of Yilan, Taiwan · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • April 20, 1935Earthquake · M 7.114 km N of Taichung, Taiwan · 3,276 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • June 5, 1920Earthquake · M 8.21920 Hualien, Taiwan Earthquake · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • April 12, 1910Earthquake · M 7.860 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 18, 1867Tsunami · 15 m hereE. China SeaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • April 1694Earthquake · M 5.5 (est.)Taibei (Taipei)NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Taipei 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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