Magnitude 6.1 earthquake rattles Taiwan's Penghu County

規模6.1級地震震撼台灣澎湖縣

Magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes off the coast of Taiwan's Penghu, shortly followed by a magnitude 4.7 quake


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Taiwan's Penghu County at 7:57 a.m. this morning, while an aftershock of magnitude 4.7 quake originated in the same area at 8:15 a.m. this morning, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The epicenter of the unusual quakes were in the Taiwan Strait, roughly 100 kilometers west of Penghu County Hall, and at a shallow depth of 20.5 km, based on CWB data.

The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, registered a 3 on Taiwan's 7-tiered intensity scale in Penghu County, Kinmen County, Tainan City, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Changhua County, and Chiayi City, while an intensity level of 2 was recorded in Nantou County, Kaohsiung City, and Taichung City. A lesser intensity of 1 was felt in Miaoli County, Taitung County, Hualien County, Hsinchu County, Lienchiang County, Pingtung County, and New Taipei City.

Located along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, Taiwan uses an intensity scale of 1 to 7, which gauges the degree to which a quake is felt in a specific location.


CWB map of today's 6.1 quake off coast of Penghu.

At 8:15 a.m., the second earthquake struck off the cost of Penghu, this time measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale, according to the CWB. The epicenter of the quake was 102.4 kilometers west of Penghu County Hall at a shallow depth of 18 kilometers.

An intensity level of 2 was felt in Penghu County, while an intensity level of 1 was registered in Kinmen County, Tainan county, Chiayi County, Changchua County, Yunlin County, and Chiayi City.

No injuries were reported from either quake at the time of publication.


CWB map of second earthquake this morning.