May 20, 1986 Earthquake: Hualien, Taiwan

Date

May 20, 1986

Time

05:25:46 UTC

Place

Hualien, Taiwan

Magnitude

6.4 (Ms)

Focal depth

19 km (12 mi)

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

24.125° N, 121.619° E

Country

Taiwan

Deaths

1

Injuries

5

Damage

Limited (under about $1 million)

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.

• May 22, 1782, Tainan, Taiwan40,000 deaths · 121 km
• April 20, 1935, Mialoi, TaiwanM6 · 3,276 deaths · 17,907 houses destroyed · 85 km
• July 16, 1935, Xiinzhu, TaiwanM6.5 · 2,746 deaths · 30,000 houses destroyed · 98 km
• September 20, 1999, Nantou, Taichung, Taizhong, TaiwanM7.6 · 2,297 deaths · $14 billion · 88 km
• June 6, 1862, Tainan, TaiwanM6.5 · 2,000 deaths · 183 km
• 1721, Tainan, Taiwan2,000 deaths · 191 km
• March 16, 1906, Jiayi, TaiwanM6.8 · 1,258 deaths · 6,769 houses destroyed · 128 km
• December 3, 1848, Zhanghua, TaiwanM6.8 · 1,001 deaths · 20,300 houses destroyed · 114 km
• December 18, 1867, Chilung (Keelung), TaiwanM7 · 580 deaths · 138 km
• February 1845, Zhanghua, TaiwanM6 · 380 deaths · 4,000 houses destroyed · 114 km
• December 16, 1941, TaiwanM7.1 · 319 deaths · 1,768 houses destroyed · 163 km
• January 30, 1736, Tainan, TaiwanM6 · 260 deaths · 500 houses destroyed · 176 km
• August 9, 1792, Jiayi, Tainan, TaiwanM6.8 · 252 deaths · 14,889 houses destroyed · 128 km
• August 28, 1916, TaiwanM6.5 · 180 deaths · 614 houses destroyed · 87 km
• November 5, 1904, Jiayi, TaiwanM6.3 · 145 deaths · 661 houses destroyed · 151 km

Significant earthquakes of 1986The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1986Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 5098.