On Monday Afternoon a Shallow M5.6 Earthquake struck in the Philippine Sea near Hualien City (Taiwan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on May 6th, 2024. Last updated May 19th, 2024.

In the Philippine Sea 28 kilometer from Hualien City, Taiwan, a shallow and significant M5.6 earthquake occurred in the late afternoon of Monday May 6th, 2024. Shaking may have been felt by a total of 24 million people. Japan is also near its epicenter.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Philippine Sea, right off the coast of Taiwan (2 mi offshore), 28 kilometer south of Hualien City in Hualien County. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 20 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	May 6, 2024 17:45 (Taipei Time) - May 6, 2024 09:45 Universal Time.
Location:	28 km south of Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. Coordinates 23°43'33"N 121°34'50"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.6 Detected by 23 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.065 .
Depth:	20 km (12 mi) A very shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	VII Very Strong On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 96% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 24 million people exposed to shaking

The USGS has published a report estimating the number of people exposed to this earthquake. Acoording to their analysis, roughly 24 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

The highest earthquake impact level for this earthquake is VI, which corresponds with strong shaking and probably light damage. Roughly 51,850 people are expected to be exposed to this level. Intensity level III was experienced by the majority of people (around 15 million). In their region, weak shaking and probably no damage can be expected.

People in 3 countries have been exposed to shaking. In Taiwan , around 24 million people, with impact levels up to VI (strong shaking, probably light damage). In China and Japan, a smaller number of people were exposed.

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
18,180	II	Very weak	None
14,600,000	III	Weak	Probably none
8,800,000	IV	Light	Likely none
223,300	V	Moderate	Very light
51,850	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

Taiwan and Japan are both located within 300km distance of the epicenter of the earthquake.

Hualien City in Hualien County, Taiwan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 28 kilometer (17 mi) south of Hualien City. The intensity of shaking and damage in Hualien City is estimated to be around level V on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (moderate shaking, very light damage).

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Taipei is located 147 km to the north and experienced an intensity of III (weak shaking, probably no damage). Hualien City is located 28 km to the north and experienced an intensity of V (moderate shaking, very light damage). Taichung is located 102 km to the west-northwest and experienced an intensity of IV (light shaking, likely no damage).

A complete list of nearby places is included below. Estimated intensity data (MMI) sourced from a shake-map published by the US Geographic Survey is shown where available (cities without data probably experienced little impact).

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
28 km (17 mi) N from epicenter	Hualien City Hualien County, Taiwan.	V Moderate
68 km (42 mi) WNW from epicenter	Puli Nantou County, Taiwan.	IV Light
84 km (52 mi) W from epicenter	Lugu Nantou County, Taiwan.	IV Light
95 km (59 mi) WNW from epicenter	Zhongxing New Village Nantou County, Taiwan.	IV Light
96 km (60 mi) WNW from epicenter	Nantou Nantou County, Taiwan.	IV Light
102 km (63 mi) WNW from epicenter	Taichung Taichung City, Taiwan.	IV Light
105 km (65 mi) WNW from epicenter	Yuanlin Changhua County, Taiwan.	IV Light
106 km (66 mi) W from epicenter	Douliu Yunlin County, Taiwan.	IV Light
116 km (72 mi) N from epicenter	Yilan Yilan County, Taiwan.	IV Light
132 km (82 mi) WSW from epicenter	Yujing Tainan City, Taiwan.	IV Light
132 km (82 mi) NNW from epicenter	Daxi Taoyuan City , Taiwan.	III Weak
135 km (84 mi) NNW from epicenter	Hsinchu Hsinchu County, Taiwan.	III Weak
144 km (89 mi) N from epicenter	Banqiao New Taipei City, Taiwan.	III Weak
144 km (89 mi) NNW from epicenter	Taoyuan City Taoyuan City , Taiwan.	III Weak
147 km (91 mi) N from epicenter	Taipei Taipei City, Taiwan.	III Weak
157 km (98 mi) N from epicenter	Keelung Keelung, Taiwan.	III Weak
162 km (101 mi) WSW from epicenter	Tainan Tainan City, Taiwan.	IV Light
179 km (111 mi) SW from epicenter	Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, Taiwan.	III Weak
182 km (113 mi) SW from epicenter	Donggang Pingtung County, Taiwan.	III Weak
204 km (127 mi) W from epicenter	Magong Penghu County , Taiwan.
210 km (130 mi) SSW from epicenter	Hengchun Pingtung County, Taiwan.	III Weak
271 km (168 mi) ENE from epicenter	Ishigaki Okinawa, Japan.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The graph below overlays a map of the region around the epicenter with earthquake intensity data provided by the US Geographic Survey. The highest intensity level detected for this earthquake is VI.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 34 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 34 people have reported shaking in 25 places, all within Taiwan.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

Yungho, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 4 people.
Taichung, Taichung Shih, Taiwan: 3 people.
Taoyuan, Taoyuan, Taiwan: 2 people.
Sanchung, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 2 people.
Tainan, Tainan Shih, Taiwan: 2 people.
Tali, Taichung Hsien, Taiwan: 2 people.
Hsinying, Tainan Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.
Pate, Taoyuan, Taiwan: 1 person.
Tucheng, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.
Shulin, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.

6 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 6 smaller aftershocks. Just 7 mins after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-5.4 was detected 3 km (1.9 mi) west of this earthquake.

Before this earthquake struck, 2 smaller foreshocks occurred. Roughly 3 days before this earthquake, a foreshock measuring MAG-4.6 was detected nearby this earthquake.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Foreshock	M 4.6	3 days earlier May 4, 2024 03:21 (Taipei Time)	9 km (6 mi) E from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 4.0	2 days earlier May 4, 2024 10:31 (Taipei Time)	58 km (36 mi) N from Main Shock.
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.6	May 6, 2024 17:45 (Taipei Time)	-
Aftershock	M 5.4	7 mins later May 6, 2024 17:52 (Taipei Time)	3 km (1.9 mi) W from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.2	8 hrs later May 7, 2024 02:10 (Taipei Time)	60 km (37 mi) NNE from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.2	1 day later May 7, 2024 20:48 (Taipei Time)	2.8 km (1.7 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.2	1 day later May 8, 2024 01:21 (Taipei Time)	12 km (8 mi) WNW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.4	1 day later May 8, 2024 04:19 (Taipei Time)	22 km (14 mi) N from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.9	2 days later May 8, 2024 16:40 (Taipei Time)	13 km (8 mi) SE from Main Shock.

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

The chance that a significant earthquake like this one is followed by an even larger earthquake is not so large. On average, scientists estimate a 94% chance that a major earthquake will not be followed by an even larger one. It is still adviced to be aware of this risk

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since April 26th, 2024, when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit 49 km (31 mi) further north. An even stronger magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck on April 2nd, 2024.

In total, 45 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.6 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 3 months.

Low tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Factor	Under Sea?	MAG-6.5 or stronger?	Shallow depth?
Explanation	Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami.	Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.	Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake	This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 20 km (12 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 19/05/24 11:08 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.