M6.4 earthquake 278 km SSW of Laojunmiao, China

Thursday, April 17, 2003, 00:48:38 UTC · 37.529°N, 96.476°E

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 278 km SSW of Laojunmiao, China on Thursday, April 17, 2003, 00:48:38 UTC, at a depth of 14.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on April 19, 1963.

Magnitude: 6.4; Strong · mwc
Depth: 14 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VII; Very strong (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

60 kilotons of TNT

That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 126 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

1,038 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

14 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 14 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.1 on May 3, 2003. 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 57 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 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 313 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1932M7.6
Gansu Province
25 Dec 1932 · 242 km away · intensity X
275 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1785M6.0
Gansu Province: Huihuipu
18 Apr 1785 · 295 km away · intensity VIII
36 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
2002M5.5
Gansu Province: Yumne
14 Dec 2002 · 259 km away
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1937M7.5
Qinghai Province
7 Jan 1937 · 247 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
1963M7.0
Qinghai Province
19 Apr 1963 · 209 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)
1962M6.8
Qinghai Province
21 May 1962 · 64 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)

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

Nearby trackers