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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Environment

Magnitude 6 offshore earthquake rattles Taiwan’s northeast

People walk past the Taipei 101 skyscraper outside the Taipei World Trade Center in Taipei [File: Yi-Chin Lee/Reuters]

A magnitude 6 earthquake has struck off the northeast coast of Taiwan, shaking buildings in the capital, Taipei.

The quake’s epicentre was about 20km (12 miles) offshore from Yilan county at a depth of 112km (70 miles), officials said.

Authorities said monitoring was continuing, with Taiwan’s fire department adding that it had received no reports of damage.

No injuries were reported.

Taiwan lies on the boundary of two tectonic plates and is frequently hit by earthquakes.


In April 2024, a magnitude 7.4 quake in Hualien killed at least 19 people and damaged hundreds of buildings. The earthquake was the strongest in 25 years.

More than 100 people were killed in a southern Taiwan quake in 2016.

The deadliest seismological event in recent decades occurred on September 21, 1999, when the so-called “921 earthquake”, named for the month and day it occurred.

The quake near the town of Jiji left more than 2,400 people dead.

The disaster prompted a series of reforms, including improving Taiwan’s system for monitoring seismic activity, changes to building codes, and public alert system.

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