Reviewed by USGSChina96y ago
M5.9 earthquake 132 km SW of Linxia Chengguanzhen, China
Sunday, December 6, 1931, 23:00:59 UTC · 34.941°N, 101.994°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 132 km SW of Linxia Chengguanzhen, China on Sunday, December 6, 1931, 23:00:59 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on April 12, 1921.
- 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
740 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 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:
- 6.275 km WNW of Xining, ChinaApril 12, 1921 · 230 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.886 km WSW of Wuwei, ChinaMay 23, 1927 · 295 km N of this epicenter
- 5.783 km E of Xining, ChinaMay 22, 1927 · 204 km N of this epicenter
- 5.6103 km NW of Xining, ChinaApril 2, 1929 · 284 km N of this epicenter
- 5.5Qinghai-Sichuan border region, ChinaAugust 25, 1927 · 277 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 85,711 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1718M7.5
Gansu Province
19 Jun 1718 · 292 km away · intensity X
73,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1921M6.2
Ningxia
12 Apr 1921 · 230 km away
10,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1765M6.5
Gansu Province: Wushan, Gangu
2 Sep 1765 · 275 km away · intensity IX
2,068 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1881M6.5
Gansu Province
20 Jul 1881 · 282 km away · intensity VIII
480 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1819M5.8
Qinghai Province
24 Feb 1819 · 132 km away · intensity VII
126 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1837M6.0
Gansu Province
10 Sep 1837 · 160 km away · intensity VIII
37 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.