Reviewed by USGSChina100y ago
M6.0 earthquake 77 km SE of Wuwei, China
Monday, May 23, 1927, 02:45:53 UTC · 37.510°N, 103.344°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 77 km SE of Wuwei, China on Monday, May 23, 1927, 02:45:53 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.7 on May 22, 1927.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- 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
16 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 33 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
753 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Amur and Eurasian 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on May 24, 1927. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
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:
- 7.9125 km E of Baiyin, ChinaDecember 16, 1920 · 234 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.731 km SSW of Wuwei, ChinaMay 22, 1927 · 77 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0139 km ENE of Baiyin, ChinaDecember 25, 1920 · 191 km E of this epicenter
- 6.275 km WNW of Xining, ChinaApril 12, 1921 · 225 km W of this epicenter
- 6.1138 km SSW of Yinchuan, ChinaDecember 28, 1920 · 184 km E of this epicenter
- 6.0116 km SW of Yinchuan, ChinaJanuary 7, 1921 · 189 km E of this epicenter
- 5.9170 km ENE of Jinchang, ChinaMarch 22, 1918 · 181 km N of this epicenter
- 5.783 km E of Xining, ChinaMay 22, 1927 · 108 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 288,912 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1920M8.3
Gansu Province, Shanxi Province
16 Dec 1920 · 202 km away · intensity XII
235,502 deaths$25 million damagetsunami
- 1927M7.7
Gansu Province
22 May 1927 · 77 km away · intensity XI
40,912 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1921M6.2
Ningxia
12 Apr 1921 · 225 km away
10,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1709M7.5
Ningxia
14 Oct 1709 · 173 km away · intensity X
2,032 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1852M6.0
Ningxia
26 May 1852 · 164 km away · intensity VIII
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1819M5.8
Qinghai Province
24 Feb 1819 · 182 km away · intensity VII
126 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.