Written by on . Last updated November 2nd, 2024.

Just after midnight of Friday November 1st, 2024, a shallow and significant MAG-5.2 earthquake hit in the Philippine Sea 45 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 (6 mi offshore), 45 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: Nov 1, 2024 00:18 (Taipei Time)
- Oct 31, 2024 16:18 Universal Time.
Location: 45 km south of Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan.
Coordinates 23°34'17"N 121°35'51"E.
Map: Map of area around epicenter.
Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude: MAG 5.2
Detected by 112 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.054 .
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 45 kilometer (28 mi) south of Hualien City.

Multiple major population centers exist within 300km of the earthquake that struck today. Taipei is located 164 km to the north. Taichung is located 113 km to the northwest. Kaohsiung is located 169 km to the southwest.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

Distance Place
45 km (28 mi)
N from epicenter
Hualien City

Hualien County, Taiwan.
78 km (48 mi)
NW from epicenter
Puli

Nantou County, Taiwan.
88 km (55 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Lugu

Nantou County, Taiwan.
102 km (63 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Nantou

Nantou County, Taiwan.
102 km (63 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Zhongxing New Village

Nantou County, Taiwan.
108 km (67 mi)
W from epicenter
Douliu

Yunlin County, Taiwan.
112 km (70 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Yuanlin

Changhua County, Taiwan.
113 km (70 mi)
NW from epicenter
Taichung

Taichung City, Taiwan.
126 km (78 mi)
WSW from epicenter
Yujing

Tainan City, Taiwan.
133 km (83 mi)
N from epicenter
Yilan

Yilan County, Taiwan.
149 km (93 mi)
NNW from epicenter
Daxi

Taoyuan City , Taiwan.
151 km (94 mi)
NNW from epicenter
Hsinchu

Hsinchu County, Taiwan.
155 km (96 mi)
WSW from epicenter
Tainan

Tainan City, Taiwan.
161 km (100 mi)
N from epicenter
Taoyuan City

Taoyuan City , Taiwan.
161 km (100 mi)
N from epicenter
Banqiao

New Taipei City, Taiwan.
164 km (102 mi)
N from epicenter
Taipei

Taipei City, Taiwan.
169 km (105 mi)
SW from epicenter
Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
170 km (106 mi)
SW from epicenter
Donggang

Pingtung County, Taiwan.
174 km (108 mi)
N from epicenter
Keelung

Keelung, Taiwan.
195 km (121 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Hengchun

Pingtung County, Taiwan.
205 km (127 mi)
W from epicenter
Magong

Penghu County , Taiwan.
274 km (170 mi)
ENE from epicenter
Ishigaki

Okinawa, Japan.
Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.

Shaking reported by 6 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 6 people have reported shaking in 6 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:

  • Hualian, Hualien, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Pingtung, Pingtung, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Wuchi, Taichung Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Taichung, Taichung Shih, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Chungho, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Yungho, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.

Risk of aftershocks?

We monitor for foreshocks or aftershocks that have a magnitude of 2.5+ and occur within 100km (62 mi) of the epicenter of this earthquake. So far no such earthquakes have been detected.

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.

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 August 15th, 2024, when a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit 26 km (16 mi) further north-east. An even stronger magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck on April 2nd, 2024.

In total, 103 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

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 5.2. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 10 km (6 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 02/11/24 21:58 (). 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 us7000np7y
  2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20241031_0000188
  3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
  4. Google Maps: Static API
  5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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