April 13, 1906 Earthquake: Jiayi, Taiwan
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Jiayi, Taiwan on April 13, 1906 at 19:18 UTC. It killed 15 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- April 13, 1906
- Time
- 19:18 UTC
- Place
- Jiayi, Taiwan
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 23.400° N, 120.400° E
- Country
- Taiwan
The toll
- Deaths
- 15
- Injuries
- 84
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 1,794
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
April 14, 1906, 03:18 local time, Jiayi, Taiwan Province, 23.4 N, 120.4 E, magnitude 6.5. 1794 houses collapsed completely, 2116 collapsed partly and 7921 were damaged. The ground fissured with ejection of sand. Rocks, fell down, 15 persons were killed, 84 injured. The shocks was felt in all the island. Zhanghua, Taizhong, Tainan, Gaoxiong and Miaoli were also afflicted. The shock also hit Fuzhou and Quanahou, Fujian Province. 47 shocks occurred up to April 19. (reference #3939)
April 14, 1906, 1794 houses destroyed, 17 killed. (reference #1068)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 22, 1782, Tainan, Taiwan
- April 20, 1935, Mialoi, Taiwan
- July 16, 1935, Xiinzhu, Taiwan
- September 20, 1999, Nantou, Taichung, Taizhong, Taiwan
- June 6, 1862, Tainan, Taiwan
- 1721, Tainan, Taiwan
- March 16, 1906, Jiayi, Taiwan
- December 3, 1848, Zhanghua, Taiwan
- February 1845, Zhanghua, Taiwan
- December 16, 1941, Taiwan
- January 30, 1736, Tainan, Taiwan
- August 9, 1792, Jiayi, Tainan, Taiwan
- August 28, 1916, Taiwan
- November 5, 1904, Jiayi, Taiwan
- June 27, 1839, Jiayi, Taiwan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1906The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1906Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 2766.