Earthquakes in Taiwan

Taiwan is one of the most seismically active places on Earth because it sits at a head-on collision between the Philippine Sea and Eurasian plates, which converge at around 80 millimeters per year. This rapid collision is actively building the island's central mountains and produces frequent, sometimes very large earthquakes. Subduction reverses polarity around the island, diving eastward off the northeast coast and westward to the south, adding to the region's tectonic complexity.

The 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, a magnitude 7.7 rupture on the Chelungpu Fault in central Taiwan, killed about 2,400 people and left dramatic surface scarps several meters high. More recently, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck near Hualien in April 2024, the island's strongest in a quarter of a century, though strict building standards kept the death toll comparatively low.