Deadly earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan - At least 17 people killed

Damage report in cooperation with the 2018 Earthquake Impact Database - EID on Google Docs
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Update February 16 16:57 UTC: A collection of video's showing the fierce shaking (some locations MMI IX)

Update February 15 14:36 UTC: Very interesting graphic giving the time in seconds that the ground started to shake after the early warning system

Update Monday 10:07 UTC: IED collected the following damage data so far :
** 17 people killed
** 270 people injured
** 800 people displaced

Update Friday 21:40 UTC: The fatalities toll has increased to 17 people

Update Thursday, 23:03 UTC: IED collected the following damage data so far :
** 10 people killed
** 270 people injured
** 786 people displaced

Update Thursday, 12:04 UTC: IED collected the following damage data so far :
** 9 people killed
** 268 people injured
** 786 people displaced
** 41 buildings tilted and/or destroyed

Update 23:18 UTC: This CCTV shaking video shows a violent shaking BUT only for a few seconds. If it would have been 10 seconds longer, the damage should have been a lot bigger

Update 23:07 UTC: IED collected the following damage data so far :
** 7 people killed
** 262 people injured
** 786 people displaced

Update 16:04 UTC: IED collected the following damage data so far :
** 7 people killed
** 260 people injured
** 665 people displaced
** 41 buildings tilted and/or destroyed

Update 15:51 UTC: Additional damage is certainly possible, especially in those buildings who developed already damage yesterday.

Update 15:48 UTC: CWB Taiwan reports a M5.7 Magnitude at a depth of 10 km
Maximum shaking intensity CWB 4 compared to CWB 7 yesterday, a world of difference

Update 15:43 UTC: Seismogram with the many aftershocks. A good graphic to see how the current aftershock (the strongest so far) relates to the M6.4 mainshock yesterday

Update 15:42 UTC: Seismogram as recorded in a seismological station in Taipei

Update 15:36 UTC:

Map courtesy Alomax.free.net - Star: calculated epicenter - Small red dots: possible error margin for the epicenter, the more dense, the higher probability that the epicenter will be in that area. Orange circle: epicenter location error zone

Update 15:35 UTC: Strong shaking was felt as far as Taipei

Update 15:27 UTC: Aftershocks keep banging the Hualien region. The last one, a few minutes ago, did send many people again to their computers and smartphones. Preliminary Magnitude M5.5
Please let us know which shaking you experienced. Use our EQ Report iOS or Android app to report us.

Update 13:37 UTC: tectonics map featuring the plate movement and direction in the very tectonic active Taiwan. 82 mm/year can be considered as a massive displacement. To be added 40 mm/year in the partly reverse direction shows why there are so many moderate to strong earthquakes in Taiwan. Maps from Shyu et al. JGR 2005 - doi:10.1029/2004JB003251.
Via Robin Lacassin

Update 11:38 UTC: IED collected the following updated data so far :
** 7 people killed
** 254 people injured
** 554 people displaced

Update 11:35 UTC: Overview of the aftershocks of the last 4 hours

Update 09:58 UTC: Too many aftershocks to make people crazy :((

Update 09:55 UTC: IED collected the following damage data so far :
** 7 people killed
** 254 people injured

Update 09:18 UTC: IED collected the following damage data so far :
** 4 people killed
** 241 people injured
** 148 people displaced
** 7 buildings tilted

Update 09:07 UTC: Stéphane Baize @stef92320 : Recent paper to understand the complex arrangement of faults in Hualien area, hit by M>5 #earthquakes those days, w/ combination of reverse & oblique structures, consistently w/ 2018 focal mechanisms). Shyu et al. (2016)

Update 23:46 UTC:

The 4th February Mw 5.9 Hualien earthquake (left) compared to the ~M6.4 quake only 12 minutes ago (right) as recorded at Taipei @IRIS_EPO @LastQuake @ALomaxNet pic.twitter.com/9h1gKnyMLt

— J H Gurney (@UKEQ_Bulletin) February 6, 2018

Update 23:41 UTC:

Probability of Mw6.4 earthquake rupture (i.e. today event in Hualien) in the next 100 years on the Milun Fault was estimated to be very high before it happened today! (Wang et al., 2016, Taiwan Earthquake Model, TAOS, doi: 10.3319/TAO.2016.05.03.01(TEM) pic.twitter.com/Dqvck8iU6W

— Stéphane Baize (@stef92320) February 6, 2018

Update 23:15 UTC: IED collected the following damage data so far :
** 2 people killed
** 202 people injured
** 148 people displaced
** 7 buildings tilted

Update 19:24 UTC: New powerful M5+ aftershock

Update 19:21 UTC: 188 people injured so far - the fatalities toll remains at 2

Update 18:51 UTC: So far we know that at least 7 buildings have been tilted BUT not collapsed.

Update 18:46 UTC: SAD NEWS - At least 2 people lost their lives and more than 100 were injured due to this earthquake. Be aware that this is a preliminary toll. We will update on a regular basis the coming hours.

Update 18:23 UTC:b Simply INCREDIBLE !!!

Update 18:17 UTC: A rescue worker is helping a woman out of a damaged building #heroes

Update 18:11 UTC: Professor Max Wyss, who specializes in theoretical prognoses of injuries and fatalities expects :
0 to 30 fatalities
30 to 100 injured people

Update 18:10 UTC: Our colleagues at EID have detected so far at least 85 injured people

Update 17:54 UTC: A lot of roads have been seriously cracked and need urgent repair.

Update 17:52 UTC: The Su-Hua Highway is interrupted as the Hualien Bridge is damaged.

Update 17:52 UTC: According to the latest report of the Fire Department, the strong earthquake in Hualien caused the Hualien Marshal Hotel, Hualien Hospital, Shangxiao Street Hotel, and Yun Tsui Building. Among them, 29 people were suspected of being rescued .

Update 17:43 UTC: Although the shaking was very strong, we have not seen any completely collapsed buildings on the many video's. Some buildings were tilted but stayed miraculously completely intact. This is of course due to the very strict building requirements.

Update 17:42 UTC: The number of people feared being trapped in partially tilted buildings has risen to 29

Update 17:40 UTC: President Hsiao Tsai quake asked for speedy relief

Update 17:38 UTC: SINA China is reporting that at least 17 people have been trapped in buildings

Update 17:31 UTC: 2 more pictures from Hualien City. No word yet of eventual injured or killed people. let's hope it remains like that. Taiwan buildings have a high resistance to earthquakes as it was frequently destroyed in the past and had to be rebuild. Additionally, earthquake response is very professional for the same reason.

Update 17:13 UTC: Shaking map with possible related damage from the natural disaster specialists at CATnews (Risklayer - CEDIM), Karlsruhe, Germany. Map generated by Andreas Schäfer.

Update 17:08 UTC: As could be expected, a lot of aftershocks up to M5 in the same area
Luckily the epicenter was not below the city but near to the National Park otherwise the damage would have been even greater. The popular Nbational Park may have some landslides too but as the earthquake occurred after dark, we expect not too many misery from that area.

Update 17:02 UTC: So far we have knowledge of 5 collapsed buildings + a lot more damaged buildings

Update 16:56 UTC: Another video showing the extend of the damage

Update 16:54 UTC: An ER readers report from Hualien :
Top (13th floor). About 20-25 seconds. Glass shower door shattered. Everything on counters fell to floor. Broken lamp/ cups. Furniture moved.

Update 16:50 UTC: Main earth movement based on the current focal mechanism. Image courtesy Observatoire Geoscope
Do beach balls looks like Chinese or Latin to you, check this article "Understanding Beach Balls"

Update 16:46 UTC: A frightening image, but at least the building has not collapsed

Update 16:37 UTC: First video's from the scene are showing a lot of damage

Update 16:30 UTC: Sputnik (Russian International press) reports that a hotel in Hualien has collapsed. More if we get more information

Update 16:25 UTC: Intensity impact on city's and population following USGS. The impact on Hualien City will be very dangerous

Update 16:24 UTC: shaking rings following USGS

Update 16:19 UTC: The CWB (local Taiwan seismology agency) website is overloaded and cannot cope with demand

Update 16:09 UTC: We do fear for SERIOUS DAMAGE as the CWB intensity data are mentioning CWB7 in the following county's :
Hualien City, Hualien County 7
Tailuge, Hualien County 7
Nan-ao, Yilan County 7
Yanliao, Hualien County 6
Tongmen, Hualien County 6
These values are VERY HIGH and CWB 7 indicates the strongest intensity scale available.

Update 16:04 UTC: We get shaking intensity values ranging from moderate to strong shaking

Update 16:03 UTC: As far as preliminary data can be trusted, this is a shallow (and accordingly) more dangerous earthquake.

Update 16:00 UTC: Based on the present earthquake parameters (Magnitude, Depth, Population, etc) and our experience with earthquake damage impact, earthquake-report.com calls this earthquake extremely dangerous and expects injuries and serious damage

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 6.3

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2018-02-06 23:50:43

GMT/UTC Time : 2018-02-06 15:50:43

Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km

Depth and Magnitude updates in the list below.

Share your earthquake experience (I Have Felt It) with our readers.
Click on the "I Felt It" button behind the corresponding earthquake. Your earthquake experience is not only important for science, but also for people in the area as well as our global readership.

					Refresh this list
SRC	Location	UTC Date/time	M	D	INFO
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 23:43	4.7	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
New Taipei City - Before I completely awoke I heard the cabinet window doors rattle and definitely felt shaking. After a few seconds of waking up, the quaking stopped. The only thing that fell was my phone off of a bed stand which wasn’t really laying flat to begin with. It was strong enough to wake up my husband and in laws. Our location was a on a 6th floor apartment building. My husband claims that we were shaking for 5 minutes but I doubt it was that long. Felt little to no aftershocks if any. No damage. Kocaeli - Golcuk - Took around 30 secs and it was like that someone was shaking the house up and down in first some secs (P waves)and then horizontally right - left and front-back (S- Waves). Nangang - On the fifth floor, in bed. The shaking lasted approximately 20 minutes or so. Definitely stronger than the Sunday quake. Taichung - On fourth floor. Bed was moving
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 23:43	4.4	5	MAP
GEOFON	Taiwan	Feb 06 23:11	4.6	10	MAP
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 23:11	4.7	10	MAP
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 23:11	4.5	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 21:02	4.4	8	MAP
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 20:56	4.9	9	MAP
GEOFON	Taiwan	Feb 06 20:56	4.8	10	MAP
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 20:56	4.6	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 19:36	4.9	8	MAP I Felt It INFO
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 19:36	4.6	8	MAP
GEOFON	Taiwan	Feb 06 19:15	5.3	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 19:15	5.4	14	MAP
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 18:09	4.0	7	MAP
New Taipei City - There has been a series of quakes starting in a series from the last past 3 days and from the night before there were 5 very identifiable quakes and continuous to and after the alert on my mobile phone saying a serious quake of 6.0 occured.
GEOFON	Taiwan	Feb 06 18:07	5.1	10	MAP
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 18:07	5.2	6	MAP
GEOFON	Taiwan	Feb 06 18:00	5.2	10	MAP
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 18:00	5.2	6	MAP
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 17:50	4.1	5	MAP I Felt It INFO
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 16:26	4.1	6	MAP
GEOFON	Taiwan	Feb 06 16:17	4.9	10	MAP
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 16:17	5.1	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 16:13	4.0	2	MAP
GEOFON	Taiwan	Feb 06 15:50	6.3	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
Tainan - Tall residential building, very noticeable shaking Taipei - Strong shaking Nangang, Taipei - 10 to 15 s Hsinchu - Moderate shaking Taipei - Was in bed, shook for maybe 15-20 seconds. Taipei - A lot of swaying in 5th floor apartment, but nothing fell off the shelves. Taichung - Very weak shaking Taipei - Very strong shaking TaoyuAn - No damagr Taipei - Moderate shaking hsinchu city - Moderate shaking Taichung - No damage but the shaking lasted more than a minute it seemed. Strongest one I have felt this year. We had one that was strong last night as well. Taipei - No damage around 5 seconds maybe? Taoyuan - Moderate shaking Taipei - About 10 seconds, doors and windows shaking Taipei - Moderate shaking Kaohsiung - About 3 minutes Hsinchu County - No property damage, but the shaking lasted a long time, at least 30-45 seconds, maybe longer Taichung - Light shaking Zhongli - The shaking was moderate on the fourth floor. It lasted for around 30 seconds. Taoyuan - Moderate shaking Hualien - Top (13th floor). About 20-25 seconds. Glass shower door shattered. Everything on counters fell to floor. Broken lamp/ cups. Furniture moved. Taipei - Around more than a minute, you can really feel the whole building was shaking Taipei - 20-25seconds, nothing damaged Yuanlin - Was quite long, something fell off the wall. No damage. Nantou - lasted for approximately 30secs South District,Taichung - Light shaking Keelung - Light shaking
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 15:50	6.4	10	MAP
Taipei - Furnitures were shaking Hsinchu - Light shaking taoyuan - just now at 23:50 pm i felt the eartquakes was shaking so strong from 7th floor. Yilan City - Shaking lasted around 30 seconds, awoke me around midnight. Strong sounds and moderate swaying. No heavy damage noticed. Taipei - Around 10 seconds no damage Taipei - Moderate shaking Taipei - Lasted long no damages Keelung - Moderate shaking Taipei - It was the most since 2016.it caused minor cracks in walls of home Hualien - Very strong shaking Nantou City - Felt shaking for maybe 10 to 15 seconds. Yilan City - Shaking lasted about 30-40 seconds, no damage at my building. Taipei - Moderate shaking Chiayi - Felt moderately strongly from 10th floor. Lights evidently swinging left to right & sliding doors trembling with sounds Linkou ( in New Taipei City ) - around 8 seconds no damage I\'m sorry for my poor English and I hope u can understand it:) Kaohsiung - No damage, light shaking for approx 2 minutes, slightly swinging light fittings on 1st floor. Taipei - Geographically located in a basin, Taipei experienced an about 30-second earthquake at magnitude 3. Taipei - Light shaking Fengyuan district, Taichung - fluid feeling, swaying. about 30 secs. nothing really moved.
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 08:36	4.6	8	MAP
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 08:36	4.6	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 07:08	4.0	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
GEOFON	Taiwan	Feb 06 05:09	4.8	10	MAP
USGS	Hualian, Taiwan	Feb 06 05:09	4.8	8	MAP
EMSC	Taiwan	Feb 06 05:09	4.8	8	MAP I Felt It INFO

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Street or suburb (area) where you felt the earthquake
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Shaking Strength *
MMI II (Very weak shaking)	? People : Felt by persons at rest, on upper floors or favorably placed.
MMI III (Weak shaking)	? People : Felt indoors; hanging objects may swing, vibration similar to passing of light trucks, duration may be estimated, may not be recognized as an earthquake.
MMI IV (Light shaking)	? People : Generally noticed indoors but not outside. Light sleepers may be awakened. Vibration may be likened to the passing of heavy traffic, or to the jolt of a heavy object falling or striking the building. Fittings : Doors and windows rattle. Glassware and crockery rattle. Liquids in open vessels may be slightly disturbed. Standing motorcars may rock. Structures : Walls and frames of buildings, and partitions and suspended ceilings in commercial buildings, may be heard to creak.
MMI V (Moderate shaking)	? People : Generally felt outside, and by almost everyone indoors. Most sleepers awakened. A few people alarmed. Fittings : Small unstable objects are displaced or upset. Some glassware and crockery may be broken. Hanging pictures knock against the wall. Open doors may swing. Cupboard doors secured by magnetic catches may open. Pendulum clocks stop, start, or change rate. Structures : Some large display windows cracked. A few earthenware toilet fixtures cracked.
MMI VI (Strong shaking)	? People Felt by all. People and animals alarmed. Many run outside. Difficulty experienced in walking steadily. Fittings : Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall from walls. Some furniture moved on smooth floors, some unsecured free-standing fireplaces moved. Glassware and crockery broken. Very unstable furniture overturned. Small church and school bells ring. Appliances move on bench or table tops. Filing cabinets or "easy glide" drawers may open (or shut). Structures : Slight damage to buildings with low standard. Some stucco or cement plaster falls. Large display windows broken. Damage to a few weak domestic chimneys, some may fall. Environment : Trees and bushes shake, or are heard to rustle. Loose material may be dislodged from sloping ground, e.g. existing slides, talus slopes, shingle slides.
MMI VII (Very strong shaking)	? People General alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop. Fittings : Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings. Structures : Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship. Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line. Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged. Environment : Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).
MMI VIII (Severe shaking)	? People Alarm may approach panic. Steering of motorcars greatly affected. Structures : Low standard buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. ordinary workmanship buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged in some cases. A few instances of damage to buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes. Monuments and pre-1976 elevated tanks and factory stacks twisted or brought down. Some pre-1965 infill masonry panels damaged. A few post-1980 brick veneers damaged. Decayed timber piles of houses damaged. Houses not secured to foundations may move. Most unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, some below roof-line, many brought down. Environment : Cracks appear on steep slopes and in wet ground. Small to moderate slides in roadside cuttings and unsupported excavations. Small water and sand ejections and localized lateral spreading adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
MMI IX (Violent shaking)	? Structures Many low standard buildings destroyed. Ordinary workmanship buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes damaged in some cases, some with flexible frames seriously damaged. Damage or permanent distortion to some buildings and bridges, designed and built to normal use standards. Houses not secured to foundations shifted off. Brick veneers fall and expose frames. Environment : Cracking of ground conspicuous. Landsliding general on steep slopes. Liquefaction effects intensified and more widespread, with large lateral spreading and flow sliding adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
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Deadly earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan - At least 17 people killed - February 6, 2018

Other earthquakes in the greater epicenter area

Strongest earthquakes (since 1900) within a 150 km radius from this earthquake