The 1976 Tangshan earthquake was a 7.6 earthquake that hit the region around Tangshan, Hebei, China, at 3:42 a.m. on 28 July 1976. The maximum intensity of the earthquake was XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli scale. In minutes, 85 percent of the buildings in Tangshan collapsed or were rendered unusable, all services failed, and most of the highway and railway bridges collapsed or were seriously damaged. The official report claimed 242,769 deaths and 164,851 serious injuries, but after cross-checking with local government figures, historians accepted at least 300,000 died, making it the deadliest earthquake in recorded history and one of the worst disasters in China by death toll.
The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake, known in Chinese colloquially by its regnal year as the Jiajing Great Earthquake "嘉靖大地震" or officially by its epicenter as the Hua County Earthquake "华县地震", occurred in the early morning of 2 February 1556 in Huaxian, Shaanxi during the Ming dynasty.
The 1920 Haiyuan earthquake occurred on December 16 in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province, Republic of China at 19:05:53. It was also called the 1920 Gansu earthquake because Ningxia was a part of Gansu Province when the earthquake occurred. It caused destruction in the Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area and was assigned the maximum intensity on the Mercalli intensity scale. About 258,707-273,407 died, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in China and disasters in China by death toll.
The 1918 Shantou earthquake occurred in Shantou, Guangdong, Republic of China. Serious damage and high casualty numbers were reported in Guangdong and the surrounding provinces. It also caused some damage in British Hong Kong.
The 1945 Mikawa earthquake occurred off Aichi prefecture, Japan at 03:38 AM on January 13. As it occurred during World War II, information about the disaster was censored. Efforts at keeping the disaster secret hampered relief efforts and contributed to the high death toll.
The 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake occurred with a Richter magnitude of 7.1 (7.1 Mw) in April 1935 with its epicenter in Miaoli, Taiwan. It was the deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's recorded history, claiming 3,276 lives and causing extensive damage. Twelve seconds after the mainshock, an aftershock of 6.0 occurred, centered on Gabi Village.
The 1969 Bohai earthquake occurred on July 18, 1969, at 13:24 local time. The epicenter was located in the Bohai Sea, off the coast of Shandong Province, China. The magnitude of this earthquake is 7.4. Areas of maximal intensity were mainly distributed around the estuary of the Yellow River. Ground cracks and sand boils were reported. The earthquake could be felt in Liaoning, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi, Shandong, and Jiangsu. Ten people were reported dead.
A potent magnitude 6.6 Mw intraplate aftershock occurred at 17:16 JST (08:16 UTC) on 11 April, in the Hamadōri region of Fukushima, Japan. With a shallow focus of 13 km (8.1 mi), the earthquake was centred inland about 36 km (22 mi) west of Iwaki, causing widespread strong to locally severe shaking. It was one of many aftershocks to follow the 11 March Tōhoku earthquake, and the strongest to have its epicentre located inland.
The Lushan earthquake or Ya'an earthquake occurred at 08:02 Beijing Time on April 20, 2013. The epicenter was located in Lushan County, Ya'an, Sichuan, about 116 km (72 mi) from Chengdu along the Longmenshan Fault in the same province heavily impacted by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The magnitude of the earthquake was placed at Ms 7.0 by China Earthquake Data Center, Ms 7.0 by Russian Academy of Sciences, Mw 7.0 by Geoscience Australia, Mw 6.6 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Mw 6.6 by the European Alert System (EMSC) and Mj 6.9 by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). 1,815 aftershocks have been recorded as of 00:00 (UTC+8h) April 22.
The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes were a series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.0 mainshock which struck at 01:25 JST on April 16, 2016 beneath Kumamoto City of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu Region, Japan, at a depth of about 10 kilometres, and a foreshock earthquake with a magnitude 6.2 at 21:26 JST (12:26 UTC) on April 14, 2016, at a depth of about 11 kilometres.
The 2020 Qiaojia earthquake occurred in Yunnan, China, 42 km west of Zhaotong on May 18, 21:48 local time. The moment magnitude 5.1 quake occurred at a depth of 10 km. Various buildings were damaged, and one house collapsed in Zhaoyang District. Four people were killed while 24 people were injured.
The 2021 Luxian earthquake was a damaging seismic event occurring in the early hours of September 16 at 04:33 China Standard Time. The surface-wave magnitude (Ms ) 6.0 or moment magnitude (Mw ) 5.4 earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 7.5 km and severe shaking in an area of 4,000 square kilometers was assigned a maximum intensity of VIII on the China seismic intensity scale. Three people were killed and 146 injured when the earthquake struck Lu County, Luzhou, Sichuan Province. At least 36,800 buildings were affected, 7,800 of them seriously damaged or completely destroyed, causing about a quarter of a billion dollars worth of damage.
The 1695 Linfen earthquake struck Shanxi Province in North China, Qing dynasty on May 18. Occurring at a shallow depth within the continental crust, the surface-wave magnitude 7.8 earthquake had a maximum intensity of XI on the China seismic intensity scale and Mercalli intensity scale. This devastating earthquake affected over 120 counties across eight provinces of modern-day China. An estimated 52,600 people died in the earthquake, although the death toll may have been 176,365.
Western Henan and southern Shanxi in northern China were struck by an earthquake of estimated magnitude 6.8 on 23 October 1815. The epicentre was in Pinglu County in southernmost Shanxi, which was the worse affected area. It had a maximum felt intensity of IX (violent) on the Modified Mercalli scale. It caused the collapse of many houses and cave dwellings and led to the deaths of at least 13,000 people.
The 1626 Lingqiu earthquake had an epicentre in Lingqiu County, Shanxi Province during the Ming dynasty. The estimated surface wave magnitude (Ms ) 7.0 earthquake caused many buildings to collapse. Over 5,200 people were killed.
The Shanxi Rift System or Fen–Wei Rift System is a zone of active extensional tectonics that forms the eastern margin of the Ordos Block in northern China. The zone extends for at least 900 km (560 mi) and runs south-southwest to north-northeast. The individual rift basins that make up the rift system have an overall en echelon geometry, consistent with a right lateral sense of strike-slip displacement across the zone. The basins contain a thick sedimentary sequence of Neogene age, which ranges from 2.0 to 3.8 km in thickness. The rift system is continuous with the Weihe Basin to the southwest, which became active during the Paleogene. Rupture of the major normal faults that bound the Weihe and Shanxi rift basins has caused many large and damaging historical earthquakes, including the 1303 Hongdong, 1556 Shaanxi, 1626 Lingqiu, 1695 Linfen and 1815 Pinglu events.
The Locust Tree of Hongtong is an old Styphnolobium japonicum-tree and important historical site and tourist attraction in Hongtong County, Shanxi in China.
On 7 January 2025 at 09:06 CST (UTC+8), an earthquake measuring Mw 7.1 struck Tingri County, located in the Shigatse prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of southwestern China. At least 126 people were killed and 337 were injured in the region. The earthquake also injured 13 people in Nepal and caused minor damage in northern India. Shaking was felt across north Asia. The earthquake was the largest in China since the Maduo earthquake in May 2021 and the deadliest since the Jishishan earthquake in December 2023. It was caused by normal faulting and originated within the continental crust at 10 km (6.2 mi) depth.
