2006 Hengchun earthquakes

The 2006 Hengchun earthquake happened on Tuesday December 26, 2006 at 12:25 UTC (20:25 local time) near Taiwan. On the surface the center of the earthquake was about 22.8 km west southwest of Hengchun, Pingtung County, Taiwan.  The center of the earthquake underground was 21.9 km deep in the Luzon Strait ().

Reports of the strength of the quake do not all agree. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau reported 7.0 ML Earthquake Report #95106 , Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan, 2010-04-14 The United States Geological Survey estimated the quake to be 7.1 Mw USGS Earthquake Hazards Program » Magnitude 7.1 - TAIWAN REGION , USGS, 2006-12-26 The Hong Kong Observatory List of locally felt earth tremors since 1979 , Hong Kong Observatory  and the Japan Meteorological Agency 台湾付近震度分布図 , Japan Meteorological Agency, 2006-12-26  said 7.2 Mw. Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that it was the strongest earthquake to hit Hengchun in one hundred years.2 KILLED IN STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE IN HENGCHUN IN 100 YEARS , Central News Agency, Taiwan, 2006-12-27 The earthquake hurt and killed many people and damaged many buildings. It also damaged several undersea cables. The broken cables were a problem for telecommunication services in parts of Asia.

The date of the earthquake was unusual. The earthquake happened exactly two years after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that caused terrible damage to the coastal communities across Southeast and South Asia. It was also exactly three years after the 2003 earthquake that almost destroyed the southern Iranian city of Bam.

Tsunami warning
Taiwan
This earthquake was the first time Taiwan detected a tsunami. The water level changed only 25 cm and did not damage anything.從恆春地震看國內建築防震問題 , 新浪新聞中心|中廣新聞網, 2006-12-28 

Warning from agencies in other areas
An early tsunami warning came from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). They reported that the earthquake caused a 1-meter tsunami. It was moving towards the east coast of the Philippines. The Hong Kong Observatory also reported a tsunami that would probably not affect Hong Kong. Tsunami Information and Warning , Hong Kong Observatory

Related pages
 List of earthquakes
 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

References

Other websites

 US Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake report 
 Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau earthquake report
 Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan  The CWB maintains an up-to-date record of earthquakes and their aftershocks.
 Reuters article
 BBC NEWS article
 CNN article 
  International Herald Tribune article 
 Singapore's Channel NewsAsia report on 28 December 2006 

Category:2006 in Asia
Category:2000s in Taiwan
Category:Earthquakes in Taiwan
Category:Earthquakes in the 2000s
Category:December 2006 events
Category:2006 disasters