October 15, 2004 Earthquake: T'Ao-Yuan, Taiwan

Name: October 15, 2004 Earthquake: T'Ao-Yuan, Taiwan
Start: 2004-10-15
Location: T'Ao-Yuan, Taiwan

October 15, 2004 · M6.6

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck T'Ao-Yuan, Taiwan on October 15, 2004 at 04:08:50 UTC, 94 km below the surface.

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: October 15, 2004
Time: 04:08:50 UTC
Place: T'Ao-Yuan, Taiwan
Magnitude: 6.6 (Mw)
Magnitude scales: Mw 6.6 · mb 6.4
Focal depth: 94 km (58 mi)
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 24.530° N, 122.694° E
Country: Taiwan
Region: East Asia
USGS record: The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Mw: moment magnitude, based on the slip on the fault and the area that slipped. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.

The toll

Injuries: Some (about 51 to 100)
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.

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Several people injured and buildings damaged in T'ao-yuan County. Felt throughout Taiwan. Also felt in much of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Recorded (5 TAP) in Hua-lien and I-lan; (4 TAP) in T'ai-chung, T'ai-pei, T'ai-tung, T'ao-yuan and Yun-lin; (3 TAP) in Chang-hua, Chia-i, Hsin-chu, Miao-li, Nan-t'ou and T'ai-nan; (2 TAP) in Kao-hsiung and P'ing-tung Counties. Also recorded (5L JMA) on Yonaguni-jima; (4 JMA) on Iriomote-jima and Ishigaki-jima; (3 JMA) on Miyako-jima; (2 JMA) on Tarama-shima; (1 JMA) on Amami-oshima and Kume-jima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan.

From the USGS event page for usp000d6dm. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Magnitude estimates

The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
6.7	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
6.56	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
6.6	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary
6.31	Me, energy	Choy, USGS energy magnitude	Reviewed
6.6	Mww, W-phase moment	Duputel, W-phase inversion	Preliminary

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Several people injured and buildings damaged in T'aoyuan County. Felt throughout Taiwan. Also felt in much

of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. (reference #1053)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 2004 The 2000s Every quake the USGS located in 2004 Recent earthquakes near here This 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 5805. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp000d6dm, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.