Taiwan earthquakes

M5.7 earthquake Taiwan

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck in Taiwan on Sat, Jul 29, 2000, 4:28 AM GMT+8 (20:28 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.8 8 km WNW of Hualien City, Taiwan. This one was a foreshock.

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Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.7 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sat, Jul 29, 2000, 4:28 AM GMT+8
UTC: 2000-07-28 20:28:12 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 23.359° N, 120.915° E
Region: Taiwan
Strongest shaking: IV, light shaking
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
5.7	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.63	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.6	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

What happened

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

One person injured and 2 buildings destroyed by rockslides in Nan-tou County. Rockslides blocked a highway in Chia-i County. Felt as far as Taipei and Kao-hsiung. Recorded (4 TAP) at Chia-i and in many other parts of central Taiwan; (3 TAP) at Chang-hua, Cheng-kung and Hua-lien; (2 TAP) at I-lan, Kao-hsiung, Miao-li, Tai-chung, Taipei and Tai-tung. Recorded (1 TAP) on Lan Yu and at Ma-kung, Peng-hu Tao.

From the USGS event page for usp0009xbp. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: IV, light shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 4.7% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 1.0 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 76°, dip 77°, rake -179°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 346°, dip 89°, rake -13°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Stations used: 262

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.7 and up: 17 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 usp0009xbp (also filed as atlas20000728202812, gcmtb072800g, gcmt20000728202812, iscgem1738412). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC.