Reviewed by USGSChina104y ago
M6.2 earthquake 31 km SSE of Jinghong, China
Sunday, July 1, 1923, 07:55:00 UTC · 21.718°N, 100.822°E
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 31 km SSE of Jinghong, China on Sunday, July 1, 1923, 07:55:00 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on June 22, 1923.
- Magnitude
- 6.2
- Strong · 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
28 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 59 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
265 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caribbean and North American 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 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 1 M5.0+ earthquake 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 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,917 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1799M6.5
Yunnan Province
27 Aug 1799 · 282 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1887M6.8
Yunnan Province
16 Dec 1887 · 280 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1814M6.0
Yunnan Province: Siping
24 Nov 1814 · 280 km away · intensity VIII
900 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1884M6.5
Yunnan Province
14 Nov 1884 · 145 km away · intensity VIII
17 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.