Significant M5.2 FORESHOCK hit near Hualien City in Taiwan on Monday Afternoon.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on April 22nd, 2024. Last updated May 4th, 2024.

In the late afternoon of Monday April 22nd, 2024, a significant M5.2 foreshock hit under land 35 kilometer from Hualien City in Taiwan. Other nearby countries are China and Japan.

Felt the earthquake? Share this article:

Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Taiwan, 35 kilometer (22 mi) west-southwest of Hualien City in Hualien County. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 32 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Apr 22, 2024 17:16 (Taipei Time) - Apr 22, 2024 09:16 Universal Time.
Location:	35 km WSW of Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. Coordinates 23°52'20"N 121°16'47"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 136 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.049 .
Depth:	32 km (20 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Tsunami very unlikely While this was a shallow earthquake, it appears to have occurred under land with a magnitude not strong enough to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake struck within proximity of multiple countries. Taiwan , China and Japan are all within 300km distance of its epicenter.

Located 33 kilometer (21 mi) east-southeast of the epicenter of this earthquake, Puli (Nantou County, Taiwan) is the nearest significant population center.

Major cities near this earthquake: Taipei is located 133 km to the north. Taichung is located 68 km to the west-northwest. Hualien City is located 35 km to the east-northeast.

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below.

Overview of nearby places

This is likely a foreshock

This earthquake was followed by a stronger MAG-6.1 earthquake, classifying this earthquake as a foreshock.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.

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 22nd, 2024, when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit 39 km (24 mi) further east-southeast. An even stronger magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck on April 2nd, 2024.

In total, 90 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 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 month.

Tsunami very unlikely

While MAG-6.5+ earthquakes may cause tsunami's, it appears that the epicenter of this earthquake hit under land. In addition, the reported depth is deeper than 100km, making the risk of a tsunami even less likely. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 04/05/24 10:38 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us7000mdt0
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20240422_0000104
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

Share this article: