Reviewed by USGSChina74y ago
M6.5 earthquake 253 km NE of Burang, China
Sunday, October 11, 1953, 17:08:09 UTC · 32.116°N, 82.786°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 253 km NE of Burang, China on Sunday, October 11, 1953, 17:08:09 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on February 10, 1947.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 30 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VI
- 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
76 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 160 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
403 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Indian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
30 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 18 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.8212 km ENE of Burang, ChinaOctober 17, 1944 · 100 km S of this epicenter
- 6.7249 km N of Saga, ChinaFebruary 10, 1947 · 232 km E of this epicenter
- 6.588 km ENE of Joshīmath, IndiaOctober 14, 1911 · 264 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5205 km ENE of Burang, ChinaOctober 29, 1944 · 128 km S of this epicenter
- 6.573 km E of Burang, ChinaMarch 6, 1913 · 228 km S of this epicenter
- 6.3246 km NE of Burang, ChinaNovember 6, 1944 · 69 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.1272 km NE of Burang, ChinaOctober 8, 1953 · 19 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.081 km NNE of Joshīmath, IndiaAugust 19, 1947 · 282 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1916M7.7
Nepal; Tibet (Xizang Province)
28 Aug 1916 · 290 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.