August 24, 1927 Earthquake: Taiwan
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Taiwan on August 24, 1927 at 18:09:00 UTC. It killed 30 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 24, 1927
- Time
- 18:09:00 UTC
- Place
- Taiwan
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 23.000° N, 120.500° E
- Country
- Taiwan
The toll
- Deaths
- 30
- Injuries
- 190
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 200
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 25, 1927, 02:09:00 local time, Near Jiaxian, Taiwan Province, 23 N, 120.5 E, magnitude 6.75.
200 houses were destroyed, 10 people were killed, and 100 injured. The ground cracked with emission of sand at the lower reaches of the Bajiang Stream and the Zengwen Stream. 9 persons were killed and 27 injured in the Yanshui Port. The shock was felt throughout Taiwan, and at Xiamen, Fujian Province.
Note: According to another record, in the central and southern parts of Taman and northwestern part of Gaoxiong, 11 people were killed and 63 injured. Houses of 214 families collapsed completely, 225 partly, and 984 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
- 1721, Tainan, Taiwan
- June 6, 1862, 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
- February 5, 2016, Tainan, Taiwan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1927The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1927Recent 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 3329.