QuakeScout
Magnitude5.3

Reviewed by USGSChina97y ago

M5.3 earthquake 213 km NNW of Qamdo, China

Monday, September 29, 1930, 09:58:49 UTC · 32.981°N, 96.572°E

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 213 km NNW of Qamdo, China on Monday, September 29, 1930, 09:58:49 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on August 25, 1919.

Magnitude
5.3
Moderate · 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

1 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/10 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

537 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 75 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 3 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 6.5296 km NE of Qamdo, ChinaAugust 25, 1919 · 241 km E of this epicenter
  2. 6.1Southern Qinghai, ChinaApril 28, 1915 · 120 km N of this epicenter
  3. 6.1Southern Qinghai, ChinaMay 5, 1915 · 114 km N of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 424 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1738M6.5

    Qinghai Province

    1738 · 36 km away · intensity VIII

    336 deaths

  2. 1834M5.5

    Qinghai Province

    1834 · 40 km away · intensity VII

    88 deaths

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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