Reviewed by USGSChina114y ago
M6.8 earthquake 33 km WSW of Yuxi, China
Sunday, December 21, 1913, 15:37:56 UTC · 24.264°N, 102.230°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 33 km WSW of Yuxi, China on Sunday, December 21, 1913, 15:37:56 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
- 6.8
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VII
- Very strong (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
256 kilotons of TNT
That is about 17 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 537 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
393 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 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 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 17,045 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1833M8.0
Yunnan Province
6 Sep 1833 · 130 km away · intensity XI
6,700 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1713M6.8
Yunnan Province: S Of Xundian
26 Feb 1713 · 160 km away · intensity IX
2,100 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1799M6.5
Yunnan Province
27 Aug 1799 · 54 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1887M6.8
Yunnan Province
16 Dec 1887 · 68 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1763M6.5
Yunnan Province
30 Dec 1763 · 58 km away · intensity VIII
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1913M7.0
Yunnan Province
21 Dec 1913 · 26 km away · intensity IX
942 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.