Taiwan Earthquake Today (October 31, 2013)

Here are details of the Taiwan Earthquake today (October 31, 2013). The tremor struck at 7:02 p.m. and was centered in a remote mountainous area 28 miles south-southwest of the coastal city of Hualian at a depth of just 7.5 miles. In an initial report from local TV channels, there appeared to be almost no damage in Hualian.

See more news of recent earthquakes.

Event Time

2013-10-31 12:02:09 UTC
2013-10-31 20:02:09 UTC+08:00 at epicenter
2013-10-31 07:02:09 UTC-05:00 system time

Location

23.591°N 121.443°E depth=12.0km (7.5mi)

Nearby Cities

45km (28mi) SSW of Hualian, Taiwan
63km (39mi) SE of Buli, Taiwan
72km (45mi) ESE of Lugu, Taiwan
87km (54mi) ESE of Nantou, Taiwan
761km (473mi) ENE of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Taiwan Earthquake Summary from USGS

The October 31, 2013 M 6.3 earthquake southwest of Hualian, Taiwan occurred as the result of shallow oblique-thrust faulting near the central-east coast of the island of Taiwan and the boundary between the Philippine Sea and Eurasia plates. East of the October 31 earthquake, plate boundary tectonics are dominated by the westward subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath Eurasia along the Ryukyu Trench, which runs from southwest Japan to Taiwan. Some authors infer that this subduction continues beneath the east coast of Taiwan. South of the island towards the Philippines, the plate boundary reflects arc-continent collision more than traditional subduction. The October 31 earthquake occurred at the transition between these tectonic regimes, and is a consequence of the convergence between these major plates. At the location of this earthquake, the Philippine Sea plate moves to the northwest with respect to Eurasia at a velocity of approximately 77 mm/yr.

This region of Taiwan is familiar with moderate to large earthquake activity, and has hosted over 60 events of M6 or greater within 250 km of the October 31 event in the past 40 years. Seven of these were M7 or greater, including a M7.4 earthquake 40 km to the north of the October 31 event in November 1986, which caused 13 fatalities.

Shake Map