The earthquakes not only caused casualties and building damage, but several submarine communications cables were cut, disrupting telecommunication services in various parts of Asia.

To the south, in contrast, the EP is subducting beneath the PSP along the line of the Manila Trench, forming the Luzon Volcanic Arc.

At its northern end the Luzon Arc is colliding with the continental margin of the Eurasian plate as the thicker and more buoyant crust enters the subduction zone.

[4][5] The first event had a focal mechanism indicating rupture along a normal fault, probably within the descending oceanic crust of the Eurasian plate as it bends within the subduction zone.

News agencies aired reports in southern Taiwan of collapsed houses, building fires, hotel guests being trapped in elevators, and telephone outages due to severed lines.

Fearing the collapse of their buildings, people in Sham Shui Po, Wong Tai Sin and Yuen Long ran into the streets.

[11] The Hong Kong Observatory estimated the tremor as having a Mercalli intensity of III (Weak) to IV (Light).

[14] While this earthquake marked the first time a tsunami was detected in Taiwan, the change in water level was only 25 cm (9.8 in) and no damage was caused.

[15] Early reports issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency indicated that the earthquake triggered a 1-meter tsunami, which was detected heading for the east coast of the Philippines, with Basco in its likely path.

As the undersea cables to North America were seriously damaged by the earthquake, the quality of internet services depended on the progress of repair work.

On 29 December, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) of the Hong Kong Government announced that IDD and roaming calls to Taiwan had resumed to 50% of the normal level.

[31] Among the internet service providers in Hong Kong, PCCW's Netvigator was the slowest to resume enough bandwidth for their users.

[32] Therefore, as a temporary remedy, many internet users in Hong Kong used proxy servers in Australia, Thailand, Spain, and even the UAE and Kuwait to access foreign websites.

[34] In the United States, several networks and bloggers experienced a noticeable reduction in the volume of spam received after the earthquake.

In Malaysia, there were problems with popular Internet services[40] such as Gmail and Yahoo News; however, the situation was reported to be improving on 29 December.

According to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) of Hong Kong Government, among the five cable ships deployed, two arrived at the scene.