The 1994 Taiwan Strait earthquake occurred on 16 September 1994, at 14:20 local time (06:20 UTC) in the southern Taiwan Strait. The magnitude of this earthquake was given as 6.8 by the USGS and 7.3 by Fujian Seismological Bureau.
The epicenter was located about 150 to 180 km from the coast of the border of
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
and
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
, and about 150 km southwest of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
.
Geology
The earthquake occurred in the transition zone from the continental margin to the continent-ocean transitional crust. In this region, the depth of the
Moho interface decreases from about 28 km in the west to about 20 km in the east. The transition between continental and oceanic crusts is reflected in the variation of the depth of the Moho interface.
There are several NW trending faults in the Taiwan Strait, including the Ningde-Sandiaojiao fault zone (宁德-三貂角断裂带), the Taichung-Jinjiang fault zone (台中-晋江断裂带), and the Bashi fault zone (巴士断裂带). In addition, there are several faults in the NE direction, including the Binhai Fault Zone (or the Littoral Fault Zone) (滨海断裂带). Some sources suggested that the earthquake was related to the activity of the Bashi fault system. However, there are still disputes over whether the fault plane should have been in the NW or the NE direction.
A paper of Fujian Seismological Bureau showed that the earthquake was caused by left-lateral strike slip of a normal fault.
The earthquake had a maximum slip of 14 m in the hypocentral region. The source duration was about 4 s, which is short for an event with magnitude about 6.7. From the slip amplitude and the source duration, it was suggested that this earthquake began as a breaking of a strong asperity with low dynamic friction, had high stress drop, and was stopped by large friction around the asperity.
Damage
The intensities recorded in Taiwan were shindo 4 in
Penghu
The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...
, 3 in
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
, and 2 in
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
. The earthquake could be felt in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, and the intensity recorded in Hong Kong was MM V to VI. This earthquake was felt strongly in Guangdong and Fujian, with building damage and collapse reported. Three deaths were reported in Guangdong and one in Fujian.
Cities as north as
Hefei
Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...
and as west as
Nanning
Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of ...
were included in the felt range.
Tsunami
A tsunami was triggered by the earthquake. The heights of the tsunami were recorded as 38 cm in Penghu, Taiwan and 18 cm in
Dongshan, Fujian, China.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in 1994
This is a list of earthquakes in 1994. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. All dates are listed according to UTC time.
By death toll
By m ...
*
List of earthquakes in China
This is a List of earthquakes in China, part of the series of lists of disasters in China. China has been the location of some of the most deadly earthquakes in history. The deadliest was the 1976 Tangshan earthquake with 300,000+ deaths. Earthq ...
*
List of earthquakes in Taiwan
Taiwan is in a seismically active zone, on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and at the western edge of the Philippine Sea Plate.Taiwan Yearbook 2005, p. 23 Geologists have identified 42 active faults on the island, but most of the earthquakes detected i ...
References
External links
*
{{Earthquakes in Taiwan
Taiwan Strait Earthquake, 1994
Earthquakes in Taiwan
Taiwan Strait Earthquake, 1994
September 1994 events in Asia
1994 tsunamis
Tsunamis in China