M5.5 earthquake 32 km W of Hsinchu, Taiwan
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 32 km W of Hsinchu, Taiwan on Sun, Apr 21, 1935, 6:26 AM GMT+8 (22:26 UTC), 15 km (9 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.0 38 km N of Taichung, Taiwan. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (Mw, moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- ISC-GEM global catalog
- Local time
- UTC
- 1935-04-20 22:26:32 UTC
- Depth
- 15.0 km (9.3 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 24.843° N, 120.654° E
- Region
- Taiwan
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 3546), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 3,276
- Injuries
- 12,053
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
- Houses destroyed
- 17,907
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
From Wikipedia
The 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake occurred with a Richter magnitude of 7.1 (7.1 Mw) in April 1935 with its epicenter in Miaoli, Taiwan (then part of Shinchiku Prefecture). It was the deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's recorded history, claiming 3,276 lives and causing extensive damage. Twelve seconds after the mainshock, an aftershock of ML 6.0 occurred, centered on Gabi Village (present-day Emei Township, Hsinchu County).
Text from Wikipedia, “1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.
The article is about the earthquake NOAA’s record describes, matched to this one by date, place and magnitude.
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.55
- Depth from
- From location
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
Before
Earthquakes todayTaiwan earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem904225. Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 3:26 AM UTC.