Reviewed by USGSChina66y ago
M6.3 earthquake 146 km NW of Jiangyou, China
Wednesday, November 9, 1960, 10:43:45 UTC · 32.706°N, 103.629°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 146 km NW of Jiangyou, China on Wednesday, November 9, 1960, 10:43:45 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on July 26, 1935.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 25 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VII
- Very strong (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
41 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 86 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
455 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Yangtze plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
25 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 15 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.4101 km WNW of Jiangyou, ChinaAugust 25, 1933 · 83 km S of this epicenter
- 6.5128 km NNW of Kangding, ChinaMay 29, 1919 · 261 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.3Southern Qinghai, ChinaJuly 26, 1935 · 257 km W of this epicenter
- 6.2Qinghai-Sichuan border region, ChinaOctober 31, 1952 · 238 km W of this epicenter
- 6.261 km S of Tianshui, ChinaAugust 1, 1936 · 245 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1127 km WNW of Jiangyou, ChinaMarch 14, 1938 · 62 km S of this epicenter
- 6.050 km NW of Deyang, ChinaFebruary 7, 1958 · 143 km S of this epicenter
- 5.9132 km SW of Linxia Chengguanzhen, ChinaDecember 6, 1931 · 291 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 24 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 112,120 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1718M7.5
Gansu Province
19 Jun 1718 · 293 km away · intensity X
73,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1879M8.0
Gansu Province
1 Jul 1879 · 114 km away · intensity XI
22,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1933M7.4
Sichuan Province
25 Aug 1933 · 83 km away · intensity X
9,300 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1923M7.3
Sichuan Province
24 Mar 1923 · 282 km away · intensity X
4,800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1765M6.5
Gansu Province: Wushan, Gangu
2 Sep 1765 · 265 km away · intensity IX
2,068 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1881M6.5
Gansu Province
20 Jul 1881 · 134 km away · intensity VIII
480 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.