1815 Pinglu earthquake

1815 Pinglu earthquake
1815 Pinglu earthquake is located in Shanxi
1815 Pinglu earthquake
1815 Pinglu earthquake is located in China
1815 Pinglu earthquake
Local dateOctober 23, 1815 (1815-10-23)
MagnitudeMs 6.8,[1]
Epicenter34°48′N 111°12′E / 34.8°N 111.2°E / 34.8; 111.2 [1]
FaultSanmenxia-lingbao Fault[2]
TypeNormal[2]
Areas affectedHenan, Shanxi, Qing Dynasty
Max. intensityMMI IX (Violent)[1]
Casualties>13,000 dead[1]
Map of the Shanxi Rift System along the eastern margin of the Ordos Block

Western Henan and southern Shanxi in northern China were struck by an earthquake of estimated magnitude Ms6.8 on 23 October 1815. The epicentre was in Pinglu County in southernmost Shanxi, which was the worse affected area. It had a maximum felt intensity of IX (violent) on the Modified Mercalli scale. It caused the collapse of many houses and cave dwellings and led to the deaths of at least 13,000 people.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e National Geophysical Data Center (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Li_etal_2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).