Taiwan earthquakes

M5.2 earthquake 21 km ENE of Puli, Taiwan

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 21 km ENE of Puli, Taiwan on Wed, Sep 22, 1999, 2:18 AM GMT+8 (18:18 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.5 31 km SE of Puli, Taiwan. This one was a foreshock.

Puli forecast More in Taiwan

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.2 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, Sep 22, 1999, 2:18 AM GMT+8
UTC: 1999-09-21 18:18:39 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 24.058° N, 121.153° E
Region: Taiwan
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.2	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.17	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.2	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Felt (II JMA) at Hua-lien and Tai-chung; (I JMA) at Chia-i.

From the USGS event page for usp0009ety. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Strike-slip
Nodal plane 1: Strike 212°, dip 74°, rake 9°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 119°, dip 81°, rake 164°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 112 in the 60 days after this one and 67 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 112.

Before

Earthquakes today Taiwan earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0009ety (also filed as gcmtb092199g, gcmt19990921181840, iscgem1656256). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 5:14 AM UTC.