Taiwan earthquakes

M5.4 earthquake 29 km NNE of Puli, Taiwan

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 29 km NNE of Puli, Taiwan on Wed, May 17, 2000, 11:25 AM GMT+8 (03:25 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.4 29 km ESE 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: 5.4 (mwc), moderate
Local time: Wed, May 17, 2000, 11:25 AM GMT+8
UTC: 2000-05-17 03:25:48 UTC
Depth: 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 24.223° N, 121.058° E
Region: Taiwan
Strongest shaking: V, moderate shaking
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Deaths and damage

From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 5559), matched to this event by time and place.

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 13
Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)

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.

NOAA’s full record of this earthquake

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: 5.6% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 1.6 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

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 351°, dip 81°, rake 0°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 81°, dip 90°, rake -171°

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: 20 in the 60 days after this one and 5 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 usp0009t2k (also filed as atlas20000517032500, atlas20000517032548, gcmtb051700b, gcmt20000517032548, iscgem1735532). Read Wed, Sep 30, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC.