M5.6 earthquake 13 km NNE of Zangguy, China
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 13 km NNE of Zangguy, China on Fri, May 29, 1998, 3:11 AM GMT+6 (21:11 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.6 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1998-05-28 21:11:44 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 37.388° N, 78.843° E
- Region
- China
- Strongest shaking
- VI, strong shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.6 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.6 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.6 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 5494), matched to this event by time and place.
- Injuries
- 28
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 2,000
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.
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Twenty-eight people injured, more than 2,000 buildings destroyed, an additional 3,000 damaged and 5,000 head of cattle killed in southwestern Xinjiang.
From the USGS event page for usp0008nw6. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VI, strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 18.0% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 2.3 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Reverse (thrust)
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 95°, dip 9°, rake 63°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 302°, dip 82°, rake 94°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.6 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayChina earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0008nw6 (also filed as gcmtb052898f, gcmt19980528211144, atlas19980528211144, iscgem1109224). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 7:12 PM UTC.