M6.4 earthquake 38 km SSW of Lijiang, China
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 38 km SSW of Lijiang, China on Fri, Dec 21, 1951, 4:37 PM GMT+8 (08:37 UTC), 28 km (17 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.4 (Mw, moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- ISC-GEM global catalog
- Local time
- UTC
- 1951-12-21 08:37:33 UTC
- Depth
- 27.5 km (17.1 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 26.579° N, 100.013° E
- Region
- China
- Strongest shaking
- VII, very strong shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 8027), matched to this event by time and place.
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
- Houses destroyed
- 29,890
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VII, very strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 18.6% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 3.0 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.20
- Depth from
- From location
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.4 and up: 0 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
None recorded.
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem895050. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 6:16 AM UTC.