Taiwan Earthquake Today: Live Map and Latest Quakes

Key context

What is normal in and around Taiwan

Over the 30 years 1996-2025, USGS recorded 1,908 earthquakes of M4.5 or more in and around Taiwan: about 64 a year, or 5.3 a month. The past 12 months had 41, about 36% fewer than the 30-year average. Quakes of M6 or more average 1.9 a year here (58 in 30 years), and 2 of them happened in the past 12 months.

Busy years usually mean one large quake and its aftershocks: the peak year here was 2024 with 227. Counts cover Taiwan and the seas around it, including offshore Hualien and Yilan. They come from the USGS ComCat catalog, which records small quakes more completely in the US than elsewhere, so compare like with like.

Largest earthquakes recorded in and around Taiwan

Plates and faults

Taiwan exists because the Philippine Sea Plate is colliding with the edge of the Eurasian Plate at about 8 cm per year, one of the fastest collisions on Earth. Off the north-east coast the Philippine Sea Plate dives under the Ryukyu arc, and off the south the Eurasian Plate dives east along the Manila Trench.

The east coast around Hualien and Taitung, along the Longitudinal Valley, is the most active part of the island; the M7.4 Hualien quake of 3 April 2024 was the strongest in Taiwan in 25 years. The deadliest recent quake, Chi-Chi in 1999 (M7.7), broke a thrust fault in central Taiwan.

• Longitudinal Valley Fault (Hualien to Taitung)
• Ryukyu subduction zone (off Yilan and Hualien)
• Chelungpu Fault (central Taiwan, 1999 Chi-Chi)
• Western foothills thrust belt
• Manila Trench (south-west of Taiwan)

Where the recent quakes were

Of the 6 quakes of the past 30 days, 5 were shallow (less than 70 km deep), 1 intermediate (70-300 km) and 0 deep (more than 300 km). 6 reached M4 or more. The places USGS named most often were Yonakuni, Japan (3), Hualien City, Taiwan (2), Yilan, Taiwan (1).

Official sources and warnings

• Central Weather Administration (CWA): Taiwan's official quake reports, intensity maps and early warnings, sent to phones by cell broadcast.

What to do in an earthquake

If you feel shaking: Drop, Cover and Hold On until it stops. Stay away from windows and heavy furniture, and do not run outside during the shaking. On a coast, strong or long shaking is a natural tsunami warning: move to high ground or inland at once, on foot if you can. Then follow your local officials; this page is not a warning service.

In Taiwan, Drop, Cover and Hold On when the CWA alert sounds. On the coast, move to high ground after strong or long shaking.