China earthquakes

M5.9 earthquake 54 km W of Juexi, China

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 54 km W of Juexi, China on Mon, Aug 16, 1971, 12:58 PM GMT+8 (04:58 UTC), 22 km (14 mi) below the surface.

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Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.9 (mw), moderate
Local time: Mon, Aug 16, 1971, 12:58 PM GMT+8
UTC: 1971-08-16 04:58:01 UTC
Depth: 22.1 km (13.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 28.902° N, 103.703° 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 7923), matched to this event by time and place.

Deaths: Few (about 1 to 50)
Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)
Houses destroyed: Few (about 1 to 50)

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.

NOAA’s full record of this earthquake

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: 22.9% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 2.7 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

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 2.9 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.

After

Earthquakes today China earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem781293 (also filed as atlas19710816045801). Read Tue, Sep 29, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC.