Reviewed by USGSChina53y ago
M6.1 earthquake 151 km NNW of Jiangyou, China
Saturday, August 11, 1973, 07:15:39 UTC · 32.995°N, 104.015°E
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 151 km NNW of Jiangyou, China on Saturday, August 11, 1973, 07:15:39 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on November 9, 1960.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · ms
- Depth
- 33 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VI
- 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
21 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 45 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
462 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
33 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 24 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.4101 km WNW of Jiangyou, ChinaAugust 25, 1933 · 120 km S of this epicenter
- 6.824 km SSW of Linxia Chengguanzhen, ChinaFebruary 7, 1936 · 278 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3Southern Qinghai, ChinaJuly 26, 1935 · 288 km W of this epicenter
- 6.3146 km NW of Jiangyou, ChinaNovember 9, 1960 · 48 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.2Qinghai-Sichuan border region, ChinaOctober 31, 1952 · 267 km W of this epicenter
- 6.261 km S of Tianshui, ChinaAugust 1, 1936 · 197 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1127 km WNW of Jiangyou, ChinaMarch 14, 1938 · 106 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.050 km NW of Deyang, ChinaFebruary 7, 1958 · 170 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 107,115 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1718M7.5
Gansu Province
19 Jun 1718 · 248 km away · intensity X
73,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1879M8.0
Gansu Province
1 Jul 1879 · 68 km away · intensity XI
22,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1933M7.4
Sichuan Province
25 Aug 1933 · 120 km away · intensity X
9,300 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1765M6.5
Gansu Province: Wushan, Gangu
2 Sep 1765 · 220 km away · intensity IX
2,068 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1881M6.5
Gansu Province
20 Jul 1881 · 86 km away · intensity VIII
480 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1936M6.0
Gansu Province
1 Aug 1936 · 206 km away · intensity VIII
115 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.