At 03:57 local time on 6 February 2016, an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.4 struck 28 km (17 mi) northeast of Pingtung City in southern Taiwan, in the Meinong District of Kaohsiung. The earthquake struck at a depth of around 23 km (14 mi). Its comparatively shallow depth caused more intense reverberations on the surface. The earthquake had a maximum intensity of VII (Very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale, causing widespread damage and 116 deaths. Almost all of the deaths were caused by a collapsed residential building, named Weiguan Jinlong in Yongkang District, while two other people were killed in Gueiren District. Sixty-eight aftershocks have occurred. The earthquake was the deadliest earthquake in Taiwan since the 1999 Jiji earthquake.
Geology
Taiwan is located on the Ring of Fire, making it prone to intense earthquakes. However, the February 2016 event was particularly destructive and deadly.
Taiwan lies on the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, which are converging at 80 mm per year. The island is the result of uplift caused by the collision between the northern end of the Luzon Arc and the continental margin of China. The earthquake's focal mechanism indicates oblique thrust faulting in the mid to upper crust.
The earthquake's epicenter was in the Meinong District in Kaohsiung City. The earthquake waves traveled northwest from the epicenter to Tainan City through the soft soil in the Chianan Plain. Due to the soft soil nature of Tainan, surface ground motion due to the traveling wave was strongly amplified, thus creating more devastating effects in Tainan.
Damage
The worst affected city was Tainan, where numerous buildings reportedly collapsed, including at least one 17-story residential building in Yongkang District, with hundreds of people trapped in the collapsed buildings. 115 people died inside the Weiguan Jinlong building (zh) in Tainan City, including a six-month-old infant who died a few hours later in a hospital. Officials reported that 397 people were rescued, with 104 of them taken to a hospital. More than 500 people in total were injured from a disaster that struck during the most important family holiday in the Chinese calendar — the Lunar New Year holiday.
A total of 34 historical buildings around Taiwan were damaged, in which 23 of them are located in Tainan. Public Work Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government discovered 314 broken bridges in the city and 5 of them deemed unusable anymore.
Taiwan Power Company initially reported that 168,000 households experienced power outage after the quake, but since then has restored the electricity to most of the houses. National Fire Agency reported that about 400,000 households were left without water supply.
Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) cancelled all train services between Taichung Station and Zuoying Station starting Saturday due to damage to the train power systems and extensive damage to its tracks north of Tainan. Later in the day, THSR made an announcement that the service between Taichung and Chiayi Station resumed after successful repair works.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company reported that the silicon wafers at its Tainan factory were damaged, although it did not affect much of its shipment. United Microelectronics Corporation said that the earthquake triggered its plant safety measures to shut down the machines and that they would need recalibrating afterwards.
Disaster response
Rescue efforts
The Ministry of the Interior immediately set up the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) shortly after 4 a.m. once the earthquake had occurred. From the CEOC, President Ma Ying-jeou coordinated the rescue efforts and is expected to head to Tainan. Tainan Mayor William Lai also set up emergency response minutes after the quake. Premier Chang San-cheng has cancelled his original itinerary and is expected to head to Tainan as well. The Ministry of Health and Welfare had launched six regional emergency operation centers. The last survivors, a woman and her niece, were found 60 hours after the earthquake.