On Tuesday Morning a Shallow M5.2 AFTERSHOCK struck in the Philippine Sea near Hualien City (Taiwan).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on April 23rd, 2024. Last updated May 4th, 2024.

In the morning of Tuesday April 23rd, 2024, a shallow and significant MAG-5.2 aftershock hit in the Philippine Sea 17 kilometer from Hualien City, Taiwan. Another nearby country is Japan.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Philippine Sea, right off the coast of Taiwan (4 mi offshore), 17 kilometer south of Hualien City in Hualien County. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Apr 23, 2024 10:21 (Taipei Time) - Apr 23, 2024 02:21 Universal Time.
Location:	17 km south of Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan. Coordinates 23°49'33"N 121°37'60"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 21 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.068 .
Depth:	10 km (6 mi) A very shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

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 17 kilometer (11 mi) south of Hualien City.

Multiple major population centers exist within 300km of the earthquake that struck today. Taipei is located 136 km to the north. Hualien City is located 17 km to the north. Taichung is located 103 km to the west-northwest.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 3 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 3 people have reported shaking in 2 places in 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: 2 people.
• Taichung, Taichung Shih, Taiwan: 1 person.

This is likely an aftershock

This earthquake was an aftershock. A larger mag. 6.1 earthquake struck 11 km (7 mi) south in advance of this 5.2 earthquake around 8 hrs earlier.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

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.

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. In total, 98 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.

Low tsunami risk

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

Sources

Last updated 04/05/24 00:38 (). 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 us6000mt40
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20240423_0000027
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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