M6.6 earthquake 47 km N of Lijiang, China

Saturday, February 3, 1996, 11:14:20 UTC · 27.291°N, 100.276°E

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 47 km N of Lijiang, China on Saturday, February 3, 1996, 11:14:20 UTC, at a depth of 11.1 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on September 23, 1955.

Magnitude: 6.6; Strong · mw
Depth: 11 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: X; Extreme (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

120 kilotons of TNT

That is about 8 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 251 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

281 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

11 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 lists 45 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on February 4, 1996. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 103 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 34 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 29,278 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1850M7.5
Sichuan: Xichang
12 Sep 1850 · 207 km away · intensity X
20,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1925M6.9
Yunnan Province: Talifu
16 Mar 1925 · 171 km away
5,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1751M6.8
Yunnan Province
25 May 1751 · 96 km away · intensity IX
900 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1948M7.3
Sichuan Province
25 May 1948 · 247 km away · intensity X
800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1996M6.6
Yunnan Province: Lijiang
3 Feb 1996 · 0 km away · intensity IX
322 deaths$506 million damage
1803M6.0
Yunnan Province
1 Feb 1803 · 191 km away · intensity VIII
200 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers