M5.9 earthquake 90 km NNE of Nagqu, China

Tuesday, August 23, 1938, 08:16:08 UTC · 32.227°N, 92.421°E

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 90 km NNE of Nagqu, China on Tuesday, August 23, 1938, 08:16:08 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on June 23, 1934.

Magnitude: 5.9; Moderate · 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

10 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 21 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

527 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

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 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 5 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

Nearby trackers