The short version
Call 110 for the police and 119 for fire or an ambulance. 112 works from any mobile phone, even without a SIM card. 165 is the anti-fraud line. Your phone will sound a forced alarm for a strong earthquake: drop, take cover and hold on. Typhoon days off work and school are decided by each city mayor or county head, usually announced between 19:00 and 22:00 the evening before, and listed on one government page.
Emergency numbers
| Number | For |
|---|---|
| 110 | Police: to report a crime, an emergency or anything suspicious that affects public safety. |
| 119 | Fire and ambulance, 24 hours. |
| 112 | Emergency calls from any mobile phone, even without a SIM card, as long as it has power and any network's signal. A voice menu in Chinese and English connects you: press 0 for 110, or 9 for 119. |
| 113 | Protection hotline (Ministry of Health and Welfare): domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and abuse or neglect. 24 hours, free, also by text message and online chat. Interpreting in English, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai and Japanese. |
| 165 | Anti-fraud hotline (National Police Agency). |
- When you call 119, say what happened and whether you need a fire truck or an ambulance, where you are, who is there, when it happened, and your name and phone number. Making a false 119 call can be fined.
- The menu on 112 adds time, so the National Fire Agency recommends dialing 110 or 119 directly when you have signal.
- For 113: if you are in immediate danger, call 110 first.
- In Taipei, the police Foreign Affairs Service Station helps in English: (02) 2556-6007, or (02) 2331-3561 ext. 3064 or 3065. The Taipei police say every precinct has officers trained in a foreign language.
- The 1990 hotline for foreigners answers in English 24 hours and covers personal safety. → Doctors and helplines
Inside Taipei's practical basics page has a section on safety and emergencies in Taipei.
Earthquakes
The alarm on your phone
The Central Weather Administration (CWA, 中央氣象署) sends earthquake early warnings (地震速報) to phones through the Public Warning Service (PWS), a cell broadcast. The phone is forced to sound an alarm and shows a warning message. A warning is sent:
- for a quake estimated at magnitude 5.0 or more, to cities and counties where the intensity may reach 4 or more;
- for a quake estimated at magnitude 6.5 or more, to cities and counties where the intensity may reach 3 or more (added from September 1, 2024).
The CWA says the warning is not a prediction. Close to the epicenter you may already be shaking when it arrives. Farther away you get several seconds to a dozen or so seconds of warning. Because it is fully automatic, false or missed alerts can happen.
The CWA's Earthquake app, in English, sends early warnings to users where the estimated intensity is above 3, about 10 to 15 seconds after a quake, and felt earthquake reports about 5 to 10 minutes after. Inside Kaohsiung's everyday Kaohsiung page describes the earthquake alarms and typhoon days as they feel in daily life.
What to do
- The National Fire Agency's guidance is Drop, Cover, Hold On (趴下、掩護、穩住). Protect your head and neck. Get under a table or into a corner, hold the table leg, and move with the table if it shifts.
- By a wall or bed, watch out for furniture, appliances, lights and shelves that can fall.
- In bed: stay there, turn face down, pull up your legs and protect your head and neck with a pillow until the shaking stops. Getting up during strong shaking risks injury from falling objects.
- If you have to escape a fire, close doors behind you as you leave, to hold back fire and smoke.
Good to know: every year on September 21, National Disaster Prevention Day, the national drill starts with a test earthquake alert sent to phones.
Typhoons
Warnings
The CWA issues a typhoon sea warning when a typhoon's strong winds are expected to reach the waters around Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, and a land warning when they are expected to reach land. After a land warning, the CWA advises people in low-lying, coastal or mountainside areas to move somewhere safe, away from storm surge, flooding, landslides and debris flows. Current warnings are on the CWA's English typhoon warning page.
Inside Hsinchu's Hsinchu weather page and Inside Taipei's weather by month page cover the typhoon season in those cities.
Typhoon days off (停班停課)
Days off for natural disasters follow a national regulation, the 天然災害停止上班及上課作業辦法. It covers government agencies and public and private schools, for typhoons, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters.
- Who decides In a special municipality, the mayor. In a county or city, the county head or mayor. They may hand the decision to district or township heads.
- Wind When the forecast says the storm may pass over the area within four hours with average wind of force 7 or more, or gusts of force 10 or more.
- Rain When forecast or measured rain reaches the level set for that area and a disaster has happened or may happen.
- Other Where terrain or rain cuts off transport, water or power, or makes travel unsafe.
- For the next day Announced the evening before, between 19:00 and 22:00. If the weather gets worse after midnight, by 04:30.
- For the afternoon Announced by 10:30.
Where it is hard to tell whether the criteria are met, the head may cancel classes first, for students' safety. Each city and county's status is listed on the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration (DGPA, 行政院人事行政總處) page, Work and Class Status during Natural Disasters (in Chinese: 天然災害停止上班及上課情形). The DGPA warns that faking its page or spreading false disaster information is a crime.
Good to know: private employers are not covered by the same rule. If you have a part-time job, the day off there follows Ministry of Labor rules and what you and your employer agree. The Ministry of Labor's toll-free line is 0800-085-151.
Scams and the 165 line
If you get a call from someone you think is a scammer, dial 165, the National Police Agency's anti-fraud line. A receptionist records the details and gives you information. Some schools cover scams at orientation: Tamkang University's fall 2025 orientation for international freshmen had a talk on campus safety and anti-fraud.
When renting, schools warn about rental scams. Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology tells students to check the ownership of the place and the landlord's identity. → Renting off campus
Questions
Who decides if classes are cancelled for a typhoon?
The mayor of a special municipality, or the county head or city mayor elsewhere, under a national regulation that covers government agencies and public and private schools. Decisions for the next day are normally announced between 19:00 and 22:00 the evening before. The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration lists every city and county's status on one page.
What should I do when an earthquake starts?
The National Fire Agency's guidance is Drop, Cover, Hold On: get down, take cover under a table or in a corner, and hold on, protecting your head and neck. If you are in bed, stay there face down and protect your head and neck with a pillow until the shaking stops.
Can I call for help without a SIM card?
Yes. 112 works from any mobile phone, even without a SIM card, if the phone has power and is in range of any network. A voice menu in Chinese and English connects you: press 0 for the police (110) or 9 for fire and ambulance (119).
→ Next: LINE and the everyday apps · Arrive and live
Sources (20)
Checked November 2026.
National Police Agency, 110 and 165. National Fire Agency, 119 and 112, calling 119, earthquake guidance, National Disaster Prevention Day drill, earthquakes in bed. Ministry of Health and Welfare, 113 protection hotline. Taipei City Police, help in English and Foreign Affairs units. Central Weather Administration, earthquake early warning on PWS, Earthquake app, typhoon warnings explained, typhoon warning page. Ministry of Transportation and Communications, new alert condition from September 2024. 天然災害停止上班及上課作業辦法. DGPA, 天然災害停止上班及上課情形 and English version. Tamkang Times, international freshman orientation, fall 2025. Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, off-campus housing notice.