NB: This report was written at 1:45pm New Zealand Time (NZT) by Volcano Discovery
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake near Taitung City, Taiwan, was reported only 16 minutes ago by the United States Geological Survey, considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 45 km beneath the epicenter in the evening on Saturday, September 17th, 2022, at 9:41 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) which listed the quake at magnitude 6.6 as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include Geoscience Australia (GeoAu) at magnitude 6.6, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 6.6, France’s Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) at magnitude 6.3, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 6.5.
Generally quakes of this magnitude are recorded by more than one agency and the results can vary, with subsequent reports that come in after the first one often showing more accuracy.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage.
Moderate shaking probably occurred in Taitung City (pop. 109,600) located 27 km from the epicenter, and Yujing (pop. 16,600) 77 km away.
In Lugu (pop. 19,600) located 95 km from the epicenter, Donggang (pop. 47,700) 97 km away, Kaohsiung City (pop. 1,519,700) 100 km away, Tainan City (pop. 771,200) 101 km away, Douliu (pop. 104,700) 104 km away, Nantou City (pop. 105,700) 116 km away, and Zhongxing New Village (pop. 25,500) 119 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
7.2 Earthquake Hits Taiwan#Earthquake #Terremoto #Taiwan
Long Version:https://t.co/MtgQ0FYFs9 pic.twitter.com/XYprCPFwRP— Fish News (@FishNewsChannel) September 18, 2022
An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 hit off the coast of Taiwan#Taiwan #earthquake #台湾地震 #臺灣 #地震 #台湾 pic.twitter.com/XS0p2iES4z
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) September 18, 2022
Taiwan earthquake pic.twitter.com/3qAlshxmO3
— TIANREN (@COSMOSTianRen) September 18, 2022
