Reviewed by USGSChina17y ago
M5.1 earthquake northern Qinghai, China
Friday, September 18, 2009, 07:02:12 UTC · 37.651°N, 95.604°E
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck northern Qinghai, China on Friday, September 18, 2009, 07:02:12 UTC, at a depth of 6.5 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on September 17, 2009.
- Magnitude
- 5.1
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 7 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
674 tons of TNT
That is about 1/22 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
1,047 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
7 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 86 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8108 km WSW of Laojunmiao, ChinaDecember 25, 1932 · 218 km N of this epicenter
- 6.7Southern Qinghai, ChinaApril 19, 1963 · 258 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.6northern Qinghai, ChinaMay 21, 1962 · 85 km S of this epicenter
- 6.5200 km S of Jiuquan, ChinaJuly 13, 1930 · 233 km E of this epicenter
- 6.4278 km SSW of Laojunmiao, ChinaApril 17, 2003 · 78 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3294 km SW of Laojunmiao, ChinaAugust 28, 2009 · 11 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.3northern Qinghai, ChinaNovember 10, 2008 · 22 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.2106 km SSW of Laojunmiao, ChinaApril 19, 1941 · 201 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 277 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1932M7.6
Gansu Province
25 Dec 1932 · 247 km away · intensity X
275 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2002M5.5
Gansu Province: Yumne
14 Dec 2002 · 281 km away
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2004M5.4
Qinghai Province: Delingha
4 May 2004 · 103 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 2008M6.3
Qinghai Province
10 Nov 2008 · 22 km away
$4 million damage
- 1937M7.5
Qinghai Province
7 Jan 1937 · 298 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1963M7.0
Qinghai Province
19 Apr 1963 · 250 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.