1999 the 7
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1999 27 years ago Selected Events September 21 4 sources

A 7.7 Mw earthquake struck Jiji, Taiwan, killing 2,415 people, injuring more than 11,000 others and causing about NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) in damage across the island.

On September 21, in the year 1999, A 7.7 Mw earthquake struck Jiji, Taiwan, killing 2,415 people, injuring more than 11,000 others and causing about NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) in damage across the island. This event is recorded as a Selected Events event in the history of September 21, a notable event in this corner of history.

The moment magnitude scale is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude based on its seismic moment. Mw was defined in a 1979 paper by Thomas C. Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori. Before Hanks and Kanamori (1979), Kanamori (1977) developed Mw scale for large earthquakes above 7.5. Thus Mw and M are not the same mathematically even though they are considered the same. Similar to the local magnitude/Richter scale (ML) defined by Charles Francis Richter in 1935, it uses a logarithmic scale; small earthquakes have approximately the same magnitudes on both scales. Despite the difference, news media often use the term "Richter scale" when referring to the moment magnitude scale.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on September 21, 1999 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Selected Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 4 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 31 August 2026.

On This Date in History

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2024 Sep 21 Raquel Blandón, Guatemalan lawyer and activist, First Lady of Guatemala (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2024 Sep 21 Benny Golson, American saxophonist and composer (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2024 Sep 21 Eddie Low, New Zealand country singer and musician (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2024 Sep 21 Mercury Morris, American football player (born 1947)
Notable Deaths 2023 Sep 21 Walewska Oliveira, Brazilian volleyball player and Olympic champion (born 1979)
Notable Deaths 2022 Sep 21 Raju Srivastav, Indian comedian, actor and politician (born 1963)
Notable Deaths 2021 Sep 21 Willie Garson, American actor (born 1964)
Notable Deaths 2020 Sep 21 Arthur Ashkin, American scientist and Nobel laureate (born 1922)
Historical Events 2019 Sep 21 A 5.6 Mw earthquake shakes the Albanian port of Durrës. Forty-nine people are injured in the capital, Tirana.
Historical Events 2018 Sep 21 LGBT rights activist Zak Kostopoulos is beaten to death on a busy street in Athens.
Notable Deaths 2018 Sep 21 Trần Đại Quang, President of Vietnam (born 1956)
Notable Deaths 2018 Sep 21 Vitaliy Masol, Ukrainian Former Prime Minister (born 1928)
Historical Events 2015 Sep 21 Adventist Health System agreed to pay $118.7 million to settle allegations of fraud. It was the largest a hospital…
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 21 Yoram Gross, Polish-Australian director and producer (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 21 Ray Warleigh, Australian-English saxophonist and flute player (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 21 Richard Williamson, American footballer and coach (born 1941)
Notable Deaths 2014 Sep 21 Michael Harari, Israeli intelligence officer (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2014 Sep 21 Caldwell Jones, American basketball player and coach (born 1950)
Notable Deaths 2014 Sep 21 Sheldon Patinkin, American director and playwright (born 1935)
Historical Events 2013 Sep 21 Al-Shabaab Islamic militants attack the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya, killing at least 67 people.
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 21 Kofi Awoonor, Ghanaian author, poet, and diplomat (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 21 Michel Brault, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 21 Harl H. Haas, Jr., American lawyer, jurist, and politician (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 21 Walter Wallmann, German lawyer and politician, Minister-President of Hesse (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 21 Ko Wierenga, Dutch lawyer and politician (born 1933)
Selected Events 2013 Sep 21 Unidentified gunmen began a three-day attack on the upmarket Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, resulting in…
Historical Events 2012 Sep 21 Three Egyptian militants open fire on a group of Israeli soldiers in a southern Israel cross-border attack.
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 21 José Curbelo, Cuban-American pianist and manager (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 21 Yehuda Elkana, Israeli historian and philosopher (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 21 Sven Hassel, Danish-German soldier and author (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 21 Bill King, English commander, sailor, and author (born 1910)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 21 Tom Umphlett, American baseball player and manager (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2011 Sep 21 Jun Henmi, Japanese author and poet (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2009 Sep 21 Robert Ginty, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2007 Sep 21 Hallgeir Brenden, Norwegian skier (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2007 Sep 21 Alice Ghostley, American actress (born 1923)
Notable Births 2006 Sep 21 Alisha Palmowski, British female racing driver
Notable Deaths 2006 Sep 21 Tasos Athanasiadis, Greek author (born 1913)
Selected Events 2004 Sep 21 American rock band Green Day released their seventh studio album, American Idiot.
Historical Events 2003 Sep 21 The Galileo spacecraft is terminated by sending it into Jupiter's atmosphere.
Notable Deaths 2002 Sep 21 Robert L. Forward, American physicist and science fiction author (born 1932)
Historical Events 2001 Sep 21 America: A Tribute to Heroes is broadcast by over 35 network and cable channels, raising over $200 million for the…
Historical Events 2001 Sep 21 Ross Parker is murdered in Peterborough, England, by a gang of ten British Pakistani youths.
Selected Events 2001 Sep 21 Several British Muslim youths in Peterborough, England, murdered 17-year-old Ross Parker, leading to debate over…
Notable Deaths 2000 Sep 21 Jacques Flynn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 35th Canadian Minister of Justice (born 1915)
Notable Deaths 2000 Sep 21 Leonid Rogozov, Russian physician and surgeon (born 1934)
Historical Events 1999 Sep 21 The 7.7-magnitude Chi-Chi earthquake strikes central Taiwan, killing 2,400 people.
Notable Births 1999 Sep 21 Wang Junkai, Chinese singer
Notable Births 1999 Sep 21 Alexander Isak, Eritrean-Swedish professional footballer
Notable Births 1998 Sep 21 Máscara de Bronce, Mexican wrestler

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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