Reviewed by USGSChina108y ago
M6.5 earthquake 296 km NE of Qamdo, China
Monday, August 25, 1919, 19:55:14 UTC · 33.220°N, 99.142°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 296 km NE of Qamdo, China on Monday, August 25, 1919, 19:55:14 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- 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
82 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 172 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
592 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 2 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 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,158 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1816M6.5
Sichuan Province
8 Dec 1816 · 250 km away · intensity VIII
2,854 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1811M6.5
Sichuan Province: E. Of Ganze
27 Sep 1811 · 201 km away · intensity VIII
480 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1904M6.0
Sichuan Province
30 Aug 1904 · 279 km away · intensity VIII
400 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1738M6.5
Qinghai Province
1738 · 237 km away · intensity VIII
336 deaths
- 1834M5.5
Qinghai Province
1834 · 201 km away · intensity VII
88 deaths
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.