Reviewed by USGSChina98y ago
M5.9 earthquake 19 km SW of Shilin, China
Friday, March 22, 1929, 03:04:10 UTC · 24.671°N, 103.220°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 19 km SW of Shilin, China on Friday, March 22, 1929, 03:04:10 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on March 14, 1927.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
11 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 22 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
282 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
35 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 3 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 25 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 17,052 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1833M8.0
Yunnan Province
6 Sep 1833 · 63 km away · intensity XI
6,700 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1713M6.8
Yunnan Province: S Of Xundian
26 Feb 1713 · 81 km away · intensity IX
2,100 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1799M6.5
Yunnan Province
27 Aug 1799 · 128 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1887M6.8
Yunnan Province
16 Dec 1887 · 130 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1763M6.5
Yunnan Province
30 Dec 1763 · 59 km away · intensity VIII
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1913M7.0
Yunnan Province
21 Dec 1913 · 97 km away · intensity IX
942 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.