Magnitude5.6

Reviewed by USGSChina101y ago

M5.6 earthquake 8 km E of Dadukou, China

Friday, August 6, 1926, 13:17:28 UTC · 26.550°N, 101.789°E

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 8 km E of Dadukou, China on Friday, August 6, 1926, 13:17:28 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on October 15, 1925.

Magnitude
5.6
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

4 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/4 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 9 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

342 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 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 32 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 41,525 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1850M7.5

    Sichuan: Xichang

    12 Sep 1850 · 148 km away · intensity X

    20,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  2. 1833M8.0

    Yunnan Province

    6 Sep 1833 · 193 km away · intensity XI

    6,700 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  3. 1925M6.9

    Yunnan Province: Talifu

    16 Mar 1925 · 167 km away

    5,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  4. 1713M6.8

    Yunnan Province: S Of Xundian

    26 Feb 1713 · 190 km away · intensity IX

    2,100 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  5. 1917M6.8

    Yunnan Province

    30 Jul 1917 · 272 km away · intensity IX

    1,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  6. 1763M6.5

    Yunnan Province

    30 Dec 1763 · 270 km away · intensity VIII

    1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

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

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