Reviewed by USGSChina89y ago
M6.1 earthquake 127 km WNW of Jiangyou, China
Monday, March 14, 1938, 05:14:21 UTC · 32.166°N, 103.454°E
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 127 km WNW of Jiangyou, China on Monday, March 14, 1938, 05:14:21 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on August 1, 1936.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
24 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 50 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
414 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
15 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 9 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 · 31 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0184 km NW of Kangding, ChinaMarch 24, 1923 · 273 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5128 km NNW of Kangding, ChinaMay 29, 1919 · 211 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.3Southern Qinghai, ChinaJuly 26, 1935 · 261 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.261 km S of Tianshui, ChinaAugust 1, 1936 · 297 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.7Qinghai-Sichuan border region, ChinaJuly 26, 1935 · 256 km W of this epicenter
- 5.6125 km N of Kangding, ChinaJuly 2, 1927 · 178 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.5Qinghai-Sichuan border region, ChinaAugust 25, 1927 · 243 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 21 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 41,239 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1879M8.0
Gansu Province
1 Jul 1879 · 164 km away · intensity XI
22,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1933M7.4
Sichuan Province
25 Aug 1933 · 31 km away · intensity X
9,300 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1923M7.3
Sichuan Province
24 Mar 1923 · 243 km away · intensity X
4,800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1816M6.5
Sichuan Province
8 Dec 1816 · 274 km away · intensity VIII
2,854 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1881M6.5
Gansu Province
20 Jul 1881 · 192 km away · intensity VIII
480 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1786M7.5
Sichuan Province: S Of Kangding
1 Jun 1786 · 293 km away · intensity IX
435 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.