Reviewed by USGSChina31y ago
M4.4 earthquake 110 km WSW of Xichang, China
Sunday, February 11, 1996, 08:43:31 UTC · 27.484°N, 101.240°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 110 km WSW of Xichang, China on Sunday, February 11, 1996, 08:43:31 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 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
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
368 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 134 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.119 km WSW of Kangding, ChinaApril 14, 1955 · 280 km N of this epicenter
- 6.824 km NE of Dali, ChinaMarch 16, 1925 · 211 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.892 km SSW of Luocheng, ChinaMay 16, 1936 · 269 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.8143 km WSW of Kangding, ChinaFebruary 9, 1908 · 222 km N of this epicenter
- 6.872 km WSW of Xunchang, ChinaMay 10, 1974 · 286 km E of this epicenter
- 6.793 km SSW of Luocheng, ChinaApril 26, 1936 · 268 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.711 km SE of Dadukou, ChinaSeptember 23, 1955 · 125 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.659 km N of Xichang, ChinaSeptember 30, 1952 · 145 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 54 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 52,073 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1850M7.5
Sichuan: Xichang
12 Sep 1850 · 110 km away · intensity X
20,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1974M7.1
Yunnan And Sichuan Provinces, Chao-T'Ung
10 May 1974 · 285 km away
20,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1925M6.9
Yunnan Province: Talifu
16 Mar 1925 · 211 km away
5,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1917M6.8
Yunnan Province
30 Jul 1917 · 278 km away · intensity IX
1,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1751M6.8
Yunnan Province
25 May 1751 · 172 km away · intensity IX
900 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1948M7.3
Sichuan Province
25 May 1948 · 236 km away · intensity X
800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.