December 8, 1930 Earthquake: Tainan, Taiwan
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Tainan, Taiwan on December 8, 1930 at 08:01:05 UTC. It killed 4 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
- December 8, 1930
- Time
- 08:01:05 UTC
- Place
- Tainan, Taiwan
- Magnitude
- 6.3 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 23.200° N, 120.600° E
- Country
- Taiwan
The toll
- Deaths
- 4
- Injuries
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 297
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.
December 8, 1930, 16:01:05 local time, Northeast of Tainan, Taiwan Province, 23.2 N, 120.6 E, magnitude 6.25.
Tainan: 297 houses collapsed completely, 5 persons were killed and dozens injured. Houses of 165 families were destroyed at Lianwaping. Ground fissured with emission of mud and sand along the lower reaches of the Zengwen Stream.
The shock was felt In the whole Taiwan and on the Shiyuan Island.
(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 1930The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1930Recent 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 3437.