Reviewed by USGSChina102y ago
M6.1 earthquake 105 km SSW of Shache, China
Monday, December 7, 1925, 08:34:28 UTC · 37.494°N, 76.955°E
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 105 km SSW of Shache, China on Monday, December 7, 1925, 08:34:28 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on July 24, 1919.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
19 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 40 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
503 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Indian 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
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:
- 7.7About 50 km NNE of Kashgar, Xinjiang, ChinaAugust 22, 1902 · 265 km N of this epicenter
- 6.733 km SW of Kashgar, ChinaJuly 24, 1919 · 225 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.194 km S of Shache, ChinaJuly 12, 1910 · 22 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.7145 km ENE of Thang, IndiaJune 21, 1916 · 238 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5,714 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1902M7.7
Xinjiang, Turkestan
22 Aug 1902 · 265 km away · intensity X
5,653 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1898M6.0
Xinjiang
21 Jun 1898 · 258 km away · intensity VIII
47 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1896M6.6
Xinjiang Province: Kashgar
1 Nov 1896 · 262 km away · intensity VIII
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1896M6.5
Xinjiang
5 Mar 1896 · 101 km away
7 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.