Taiwan earthquakes

M5.4 earthquake 54 km SE of Puli, Taiwan

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 54 km SE of Puli, Taiwan on Tue, Oct 19, 1999, 12:00 AM GMT+8 (16:00 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.3 66 km S of Hualien City, 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: 5.4 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, Oct 19, 1999, 12:00 AM GMT+8
UTC: 1999-10-18 16:00:44 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 23.564° N, 121.281° 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
5.4	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.34	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.3	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

What happened

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

Felt (V JMA) in the epicentral area; (IV JMA) at Hua-lien; (III JMA) at Chia-i and Tai-chung; (II JMA) at Tai-nan; (I JMA) at I-lan and Taipei.

From the USGS event page for usp0009g63. 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: Oblique reverse
Nodal plane 1: Strike 90°, dip 3°, rake 140°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 220°, dip 88°, rake 87°

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 2.4 and up: 37 in the 60 days after this one and 149 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Taiwan earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0009g63 (also filed as gcmtb101899g, gcmt19991018160044, iscgem1644420). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 6:21 AM UTC.