The off-coast ML7.1 earthquake occurred at 16:57 (local time) on Saturday August 15, 1959, with an epicenter 70 kilometers (31 mi) east-southeast of Hengchun. This earthquake, which was felt throughout Taiwan and the Penghu Islands caused unprecedented damage in Pingtung County in southern Taiwan. The Manchu, Hengchun,Checheng and Jiadong Townships suffered the most damage. Because the epicenter was located off the coast, no fault rupture was found inland; however, observed phenomena like landslides, ground cracks, well water anomalies, sand blasting and water jetting were affected by the earthquake. The estuary of the Kang-Kou River to the open sea was suspected of being subjected to a tsunami.

Cheng, S.N., T.Y. Yeh, M.T. Hsu and T.C. Shin (1999). A collection of Images of Ten Great Earthquake Disasters in the Taiwan Region. Taipei: Central Weather Bureau and Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica. CWB-9-1999-002-9, 290 pp.