Very strong magnitude 7.2 earthquake 41 km northeast of Taitung City, Taiwan
7.2 quake 41 km north of Taitung City, Taiwan, Sep 18, 2022 2:44 pm (GMT +8)

The United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude 7.2 quake in Taiwan near Taitung City, only 22 minutes ago. The earthquake hit early afternoon on Sunday, September 18th, 2022, at 2:44 pm local time at a shallow depth of 10 km. 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 Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) which listed the quake at magnitude 7.2 as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) at magnitude 6.6, Geoscience Australia (GeoAu) at magnitude 6.9, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 6.9, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 7.2, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 6.9.
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 felt by everybody in the area of the epicenter. In those areas, dangerous ground shaking occurred with the potential to inflict moderate to heavy damage to buildings and other infrastructure.
Towns or cities where the quake likely caused strong ground shaking include
Moderate shaking probably occurred in Yujing (pop. 16,600) located 86 km from the epicenter, Lugu (pop. 19,600) 91 km away, Puli (pop. 86,400) 102 km away, Hualien City (pop. 350,500) 102 km away, Douliu (pop. 104,700) 103 km away, Tainan City (pop. 771,200) 112 km away, Zhongxing New Village (pop. 25,500) 114 km away, and Kaohsiung City (pop. 1,519,700) 115 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Sep 18, 2022 2:44 pm (GMT +8) local time (18 Sep 2022 06:44 GMT)
Magnitude: 7.2
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenterlatitude / longitude: 23.14°N / 121.31°E (Hualien, Taiwan, Taiwan)
Primary data source: USGS
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquake/news/192118/Very-strong-magnitude-72-earthquake-41-km-northeast-of-Taitung-City-Taiwan.html