Reviewed by USGSChina110y ago
M7.0 earthquake 42 km W of Xunchang, China
Monday, July 30, 1917, 23:54:08 UTC · 28.405°N, 104.285°E
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 42 km W of Xunchang, China on Monday, July 30, 1917, 23:54:08 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
- 7.0
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VIII
- Severe (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
415 kilotons of TNT
That is about 28 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 871 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
82 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Yangtze plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 22,939 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1850M7.5
Sichuan: Xichang
12 Sep 1850 · 206 km away · intensity X
20,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1917M6.8
Yunnan Province
30 Jul 1917 · 53 km away · intensity IX
1,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1786M7.5
Sichuan Province: S Of Kangding
1 Jun 1786 · 263 km away · intensity IX
435 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1896M5.8
Sichuan Province: Fushun
14 Feb 1896 · 107 km away · intensity VII
26 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1748M5.5
Sichuan Province
6 Mar 1748 · 298 km away · intensity VII
15 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1905M5.0
Sichuan Province
8 Nov 1905 · 111 km away · intensity VI
13 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.