Written by on . Last updated March 14th, 2025.

In the Philippine Sea 97 kilometer from Hualien City, Taiwan, a shallow and significant Magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurred in the early afternoon of Thursday March 13th, 2025.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Philippine Sea, right off the coast of Taiwan (8 mi offshore), 97 kilometer south of Hualien City in Hualien County. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 27 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time: Mar 13, 2025 13:09 (Taipei Time)
- Mar 13, 2025 05:09 Universal Time.
Location: 97 km south of Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan.
Coordinates 23°6'51"N 121°29'31"E.
Map: Map of area around epicenter.
Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude: MAG 5.2
Detected by 9 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.103 .
Depth: 27 km (17 mi)
A quite 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

This earthquake may have been felt in Taiwan . Hualien City in Hualien County, Taiwan is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 97 kilometer (60 mi) south of Hualien City.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Taipei is located 215 km to the north. Kaohsiung is located 133 km to the west-southwest. Taichung is located 141 km to the northwest.

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

Overview of nearby places

Distance Place
97 km (60 mi)
N from epicenter
Hualien City

Hualien County, Taiwan.
103 km (64 mi)
NW from epicenter
Lugu

Nantou County, Taiwan.
105 km (65 mi)
W from epicenter
Yujing

Tainan City, Taiwan.
109 km (68 mi)
NNW from epicenter
Puli

Nantou County, Taiwan.
117 km (73 mi)
NW from epicenter
Douliu

Yunlin County, Taiwan.
123 km (76 mi)
NW from epicenter
Nantou

Nantou County, Taiwan.
125 km (78 mi)
NW from epicenter
Zhongxing New Village

Nantou County, Taiwan.
129 km (80 mi)
SW from epicenter
Donggang

Pingtung County, Taiwan.
132 km (82 mi)
W from epicenter
Tainan

Tainan City, Taiwan.
132 km (82 mi)
NW from epicenter
Yuanlin

Changhua County, Taiwan.
133 km (83 mi)
WSW from epicenter
Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
141 km (88 mi)
NW from epicenter
Taichung

Taichung City, Taiwan.
145 km (90 mi)
SSW from epicenter
Hengchun

Pingtung County, Taiwan.
185 km (115 mi)
N from epicenter
Yilan

Yilan County, Taiwan.
195 km (121 mi)
NNW from epicenter
Hsinchu

Hsinchu County, Taiwan.
198 km (123 mi)
N from epicenter
Daxi

Taoyuan City , Taiwan.
201 km (125 mi)
WNW from epicenter
Magong

Penghu County , Taiwan.
210 km (130 mi)
N from epicenter
Taoyuan City

Taoyuan City , Taiwan.
211 km (131 mi)
N from epicenter
Banqiao

New Taipei City, Taiwan.
215 km (134 mi)
N from epicenter
Taipei

Taipei City, Taiwan.
225 km (140 mi)
N from epicenter
Keelung

Keelung, Taiwan.
Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.

Shaking reported by 10 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 10 people have reported shaking in 8 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:

  • Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung Shih, Taiwan: 2 people.
  • Taichung, Taichung Shih, Taiwan: 2 people.
  • Yuli, Hualien, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Tainan, Tainan Shih, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Sanchung, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Yungho, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Taitung, Taitung, Taiwan: 1 person.
  • Taoyuan, Taoyuan, Taiwan: 1 person.

Aftershocks detected

Since this main shock, 1 smaller aftershock was detected. At a distance of 48 km (30 mi) west-southwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 17 hrs later. It measured a magnitude of 4

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Classification Magnitude When Where
Main Shock
This Earthquake
M 5.2 Mar 13, 2025 13:09
(Taipei Time)
-
Aftershock M 4.0 17 hrs later
Mar 14, 2025 05:44 (Taipei Time)
48 km (30 mi)
WSW from Main Shock.
Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.

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.

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 January 20th, 2025, when a 6 magnitude earthquake hit 97 km (60 mi) further west. An even stronger magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck on April 2nd, 2024.

In total, 105 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 27 km (17 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 14/03/25 10:28 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.

  1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000pyi3
  2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250313_0000039
  3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
  4. Google Maps: Static API
  5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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