[1] It injured 50 people and damaged several thousand buildings across six counties and cities in the southwest of the island, mainly in Tainan.

The earthquake was followed by a series of intense aftershocks, which caused additional damage in the most badly-affected areas of the mainshock.

The CWB then provided the observed seismic intensities of affected towns and counties at 00:20:42, and publicly reported the quake at 00:24:29.

[15] Power and water outages affected 36,342 households,[6] including 22,074 in Tainan, 6,923 in Kaoshiung and 3,975 in Chiayi,[16] although electricity was quickly restored.

[24] A wall collapsed, some roads were badly affected, 130 buildings were seriously damaged and rockfalls occurred in Dapu, Chiayi.

[25][26][27] The village of Xixing was cut off due to landslides blocking access roads, leaving 50 residents stranded.

[31] A ML 5.7 aftershock on 25 January caused wall collapses at Dongyuan Junior High School and multiple residential buildings in Dongshan District, were power outages were reported.

[34] On 30 January, a ML 5.6 aftershock caused part of the façade of Tainan's city hall to collapse, damaging two vehicles below.

[6] Both Premier Cho Jung-tai and President Lai Ching-te visited Tainan and pledged government support.