Reviewed by USGSChina36y ago
M4.2 earthquake 208 km WSW of Xining, China
Tuesday, May 15, 1990, 21:37:36 UTC · 35.860°N, 99.644°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 208 km WSW of Xining, China on Tuesday, May 15, 1990, 21:37:36 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · ml
- Depth
- 10 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
885 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
10 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 50 km
USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on May 20, 1990. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
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:
- 7.8Southern Qinghai, ChinaJanuary 7, 1937 · 180 km W of this epicenter
- 7.6Qinghai-Sichuan border region, ChinaMarch 17, 1947 · 263 km S of this epicenter
- 6.7Southern Qinghai, ChinaApril 19, 1963 · 241 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5200 km S of Jiuquan, ChinaJuly 13, 1930 · 264 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5153 km WSW of Xining, ChinaApril 26, 1990 · 56 km E of this epicenter
- 6.5296 km NE of Qamdo, ChinaAugust 25, 1919 · 297 km S of this epicenter
- 6.3148 km WSW of Xining, ChinaApril 26, 1990 · 60 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3141 km WSW of Xining, ChinaApril 26, 1990 · 69 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10,252 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1921M6.2
Ningxia
12 Apr 1921 · 159 km away
10,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1990M6.9
Qinghai Province: Ganghe-Xinghai
26 Apr 1990 · 56 km away
126 deaths$58 million damage
- 1819M5.8
Qinghai Province
24 Feb 1819 · 240 km away · intensity VII
126 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1893M5.5
Qinghai Province
1 Jun 1893 · 210 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1937M7.5
Qinghai Province
7 Jan 1937 · 189 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1963M7.0
Qinghai Province
19 Apr 1963 · 239 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.