Magnitude6.0

Reviewed by USGSChina69y ago

M6.0 earthquake 50 km NW of Deyang, China

Friday, February 7, 1958, 23:23:37 UTC · 31.464°N, 104.014°E

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 50 km NW of Deyang, China on Friday, February 7, 1958, 23:23:37 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.1 on April 14, 1955.

Magnitude
6.0
Moderate · 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

14 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 29 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

321 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 75 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 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:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 38,643 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1879M8.0

    Gansu Province

    1 Jul 1879 · 204 km away · intensity XI

    22,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  2. 1933M7.4

    Sichuan Province

    25 Aug 1933 · 64 km away · intensity X

    9,300 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  3. 1923M7.3

    Sichuan Province

    24 Mar 1923 · 286 km away · intensity X

    4,800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  4. 1881M6.5

    Gansu Province

    20 Jul 1881 · 244 km away · intensity VIII

    480 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  5. 1786M7.5

    Sichuan Province: S Of Kangding

    1 Jun 1786 · 260 km away · intensity IX

    435 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  6. 1904M6.0

    Sichuan Province

    30 Aug 1904 · 297 km away · intensity VIII

    400 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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