M5.9 earthquake 93 km SW of Luocheng, China

Monday, April 27, 1936, 01:33:26 UTC · 28.718°N, 103.433°E

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 93 km SW of Luocheng, China on Monday, April 27, 1936, 01:33:26 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on April 26, 1936.

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 earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

11 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 23 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

172 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 75 km

USGS lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.8 on May 16, 1936. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 8 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 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 24,076 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1850M7.5
Sichuan: Xichang
12 Sep 1850 · 151 km away · intensity X
20,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1917M6.8
Yunnan Province
30 Jul 1917 · 97 km away · intensity IX
1,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1786M7.5
Sichuan Province: S Of Kangding
1 Jun 1786 · 177 km away · intensity IX
435 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1893M6.8
Sichuan Province
29 Aug 1893 · 272 km away · intensity IX
288 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1793M6.0
Sichuan Province: Near Qianning
15 May 1793 · 280 km away · intensity VIII
200 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1932M6.0
Sichuan Province
6 Mar 1932 · 221 km away · intensity VIII
200 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)

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

Nearby trackers