August 28, 1916 Earthquake: Taiwan
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Taiwan on August 28, 1916 at 07:27:05 UTC. It killed 180 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
- August 28, 1916
- Time
- 07:27:05 UTC
- Place
- Taiwan
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 23.700° N, 120.900° E
- Country
- Taiwan
The toll
- Deaths
- 180
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 614
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.
August 28, 1916, 15:27:05 local time, Near Nantou, Taiwan Province, 23.7 N, 120.9 E, magnitude 6.5, intensity VIII.
A hundred houses collapsed entirely, with 180 casualties. The quake was felt the whole island over.
Note: According to another record, in Taizhong and
the northern part of Tainan, 16 people were killed and 159 injured, 614 houses completely collapsed, 954 partly collapsed, and 3,931 were damaged.
(above from reference #3939)
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
- November 5, 1904, Jiayi, Taiwan
- June 27, 1839, Jiayi, Taiwan
- February 5, 2016, Tainan, Taiwan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1916The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1916Recent 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 3062.