M5.9 earthquake Taiwan
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck in Taiwan on Sat, Mar 22, 1986, 12:45 PM GMT+8 (04:45 UTC), 45 km (28 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.2 16 km N of Hualien City, Taiwan. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.9 (mw), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1986-03-22 04:45:32 UTC
- Depth
- 44.5 km (27.7 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 23.422° N, 121.565° E
- Region
- Taiwan
- Strongest shaking
- V, moderate shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- V, moderate shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 6.4% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 1.6 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.010 km NNW of Puli, Taiwan · 14747 days ago · 33 km deep · 96 km away
- 6.216 km N of Hualien City, Taiwan · 14735 days ago · 19 km deep · 78 km away
- 5.58 km N of Hualien City, Taiwan · 14735 days ago · 31 km deep · 70 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayTaiwan earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002s1s (also filed as gcmtb032286a, gcmt19860322044531, atlas19860322044534, iscgem501085). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 3:38 AM UTC.