reports of the strength of the quake do not all agree. taiwan's central weather bureau reported 7.0 ml the united states geological survey estimated the quake to be 7.1 mw the hong kong observatory and the japan meteorological agency said 7.2 mw. taiwan's central news agency reported that it was the strongest earthquake to hit hengchun in one hundred years. the earthquake hurt and killed many people and damaged many buildings. it also damaged several undersea cables. the broken cables were a problem for telecommunication services in parts of asia.