Reviewed by USGSChina50y ago
M5.0 earthquake 124 km NNW of Jiangyou, China
Monday, September 20, 1976, 22:45:28 UTC · 32.772°N, 104.120°E
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 124 km NNW of Jiangyou, China on Monday, September 20, 1976, 22:45:28 UTC, at a depth of 42.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on September 1, 1976.
- Magnitude
- 5.0
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 42 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
477 tons of TNT
That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
436 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
42 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 35 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 · 100 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.9121 km NNW of Jiangyou, ChinaAugust 16, 1976 · 4 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.794 km NNW of Jiangyou, ChinaAugust 23, 1976 · 32 km S of this epicenter
- 6.499 km NNW of Jiangyou, ChinaAugust 21, 1976 · 25 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.3146 km NW of Jiangyou, ChinaNovember 9, 1960 · 47 km W of this epicenter
- 6.2Qinghai-Sichuan border region, ChinaOctober 31, 1952 · 281 km W of this epicenter
- 6.261 km S of Tianshui, ChinaAugust 1, 1936 · 205 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1127 km WNW of Jiangyou, ChinaMarch 14, 1938 · 92 km SW of this epicenter
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 107,115 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1718M7.5
Gansu Province
19 Jun 1718 · 267 km away · intensity X
73,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1879M8.0
Gansu Province
1 Jul 1879 · 72 km away · intensity XI
22,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1933M7.4
Sichuan Province
25 Aug 1933 · 100 km away · intensity X
9,300 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1765M6.5
Gansu Province: Wushan, Gangu
2 Sep 1765 · 240 km away · intensity IX
2,068 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1881M6.5
Gansu Province
20 Jul 1881 · 102 km away · intensity VIII
480 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1936M6.0
Gansu Province
1 Aug 1936 · 216 km away · intensity VIII
115 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.