The quake actually changed the shape of mountains and the course of streams in these places, and it also wreaked extensive damage upon buildings and other structures throughout most of Taiwan, with numerous damage reports coming in from the counties of Taipei, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, and Tainan.
台北縣市、苗栗、彰化、雲林、台南等地紛紛傳出災情，可說除了東部、高雄之外，全台均在此次大地震中受到重創。此次地震災情最重的首推震央所在的南投及斷層所經的中部地區。