QuakeScout
Magnitude6.3

Reviewed by USGSChina92y ago

M6.3 earthquake eastern Sichuan, China

Wednesday, December 18, 1935, 07:10:35 UTC · 28.888°N, 103.534°E

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck eastern Sichuan, China on Wednesday, December 18, 1935, 07:10:35 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on July 30, 1917.

Magnitude
6.3
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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

38 kilotons of TNT

That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 80 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

171 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 lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on December 18, 1935. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M5M61h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M6.3
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 5.689 km SW of Luocheng, China92y ago · 16 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 6.0eastern Sichuan, China92y ago · 24 km NW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 4 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.042 km W of Xunchang, ChinaJuly 30, 1917 · 91 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 6.8143 km WSW of Kangding, ChinaFebruary 9, 1908 · 287 km W of this epicenter
  3. 5.780 km SW of Kangding, ChinaAugust 11, 1926 · 230 km W of this epicenter
  4. 5.6125 km N of Kangding, ChinaJuly 2, 1927 · 289 km NW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 24,046 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1850M7.5

    Sichuan: Xichang

    12 Sep 1850 · 171 km away · intensity X

    20,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  2. 1917M6.8

    Yunnan Province

    30 Jul 1917 · 109 km away · intensity IX

    1,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  3. 1786M7.5

    Sichuan Province: S Of Kangding

    1 Jun 1786 · 172 km away · intensity IX

    435 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  4. 1893M6.8

    Sichuan Province

    29 Aug 1893 · 266 km away · intensity IX

    288 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  5. 1793M6.0

    Sichuan Province: Near Qianning

    15 May 1793 · 273 km away · intensity VIII

    200 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

  6. 1932M6.0

    Sichuan Province

    6 Mar 1932 · 215 km away · intensity VIII

    200 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)

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

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