The epicenter was located at Hualien County, Taiwan, reaching a scale of ML 5.8.

[6] The earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks, with the largest being an M 5.7 event on 7 February at 23:21 local time, 19 km northeast of Hualien city, which reached a maximum intensity of VI (strong).

14 deaths were also reported from the twelve-story Yun Men Tsui Ti (雲門翠堤) residential building, which was severely tilted due to the collapse of some of the lower floors.

[6] Hundreds of firefighters and military personnel stayed onsite to support efforts to rescue people trapped in damaged buildings.

[11] The Taiwanese government said that after several countries offered aid, including $3 million from the People's Republic of China, it had to "politely decline" them because Taiwan had no shortage of workers and supplies but accepted a Japanese contingent for their body-heat detection equipment, which Taiwanese authorities did not possess.

[15][16] At least 63 countries, 18 of which have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, as well as the European Union, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, the Central American Parliament and the Central American Integration System sent condolences to the Taiwanese government.