What We Know About the Taiwan Earthquake

Written by: Arlo Hoover

Yesterday at 9:47 am local time (GMT +8), 13 hours ahead of our time, CST, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 on the Richter Scale hit Taiwan. The epicenter was located on Taiwan's east coast. Though the east is not very population dense, 9 have been confirmed dead with 50 missing and over 900 injured. Taiwan hasn’t had an earthquake this bad since September of 1999, where a magnitude 7.6 killed nearly 2,400. 

Taiwan has an average of 224 yearly earthquakes according to earthquakelist.org, with around 18 a month. This is because the island is located on at least 51 fault lines created by the movement of the tectonic plates.

The earthquake caused an enormous amount of landslides, making those responsible for 4 of the total 9 deaths. Aside from landslides, multiple buildings have collapsed, the most notable being a warehouse in New Taipei City completely fell. The mayor there said more than 50 people were recovered from the ruins.

Landslides have also caused coastal city Hualien to be cut off by fallen boulders and other debris. Local news stations have shown the rescue efforts in the area, including multiple bulldozers clearing roads.

The earthquake extended tsunami warnings all the way out to Japan and the Philippines. Those warnings have ended as the after-shocks begin to die down.