In the past hundred years, the largest earthquake that has caused the most disastrous number of casualties in Taiwan occurred at 06:02am on April 21 of 1935 - The Hsinchu Taichung very strong earthquake. The epicenter was located three kilometers south to the southeast of the Guandaoshan in Hsinchu, positioned at 24.4 N in latitude and 120.8 E in longitude. It took place at the intersection of the Tunzijiao Fault and the Shitan Fault. The Tunzijiao Fault extended 10 kilometers in length with a maximum horizontal displacement of 150 centimeters and the largest vertical displacement being 60 centimeters. The Shitan Fault extended 20 kilometers in length with the largest vertical displacement being 3 meters between Zhihu and Qiakeng and minimal horizontal displacement; which was really a special case. This earthquake resulted in 3,276 deaths, 12,053 people injured, 17,907 houses fully destroyed, 11,405 houses partially destroyed, and 25,376 houses damaged.

The most catastrophic earthquake that caused the most disastrous damage in Taiwan occurred at 01:47 am on September 21 of 1999 - the Nantou Jiji (Chi-Chi) earthquake. Its epicenter was located at 9 kilometers west of the Sun Moon Lake, positioned at 23.9 N in latitude, and 120.8 E in longitude. The Chelungpu Fault and the Shuangdong Fault formed the surface rupture zone which was approximately 100 kilometers in length with the maximum horizontal displacement of 7 meters and maximum vertical displacement of 4 meters. This earthquake resulted in 2,456 deaths, 10,718 injured, 53,661 houses fully destroyed, and 53,024 houses damaged.