April 1022 Earthquake: Datong, Shaanxi Province, China
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Datong, Shaanxi Province, China in April 1022.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- April 1022
- Place
- Datong, Shaanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 39.800° N, 113.100° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- 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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
April 1022, between Datong and Yingxian, Shanxi Province, 39.8 N, 113.1 E,
Houses were destroyed and the ground warped in
Yunzhou Prefecture (the seat of the local government
was located at the present-day Datong) and
Yingzhou Prefecture (present-day Yingxlan), Weihal
Hill fissured for several hundred paces.
Spring gushed out, forming a stream. (Fig. 6)
Note~ No separate records for Yunzhou and Yingzhou
prefectures. Epicenter estimated to be at the boundary of the two prefectures.
(above from reference #3939)
Reference #1052 lists April 1022, Shansi Province, 39.7 N, 113.1 E, magnitude 6.5, intensity VIII.
Reference #1055 lists March (possibly April-May) 1022, China (Shansi), Liao, Ying in Tatung Fu and Yuan in Chian, intensity II which corresponds to buildings may be unroofed or shattered and some may fall, the ground may be badly cracked in places and small landslips occur.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 9, 1038, Dingxiang, Xinxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- June 28, 1626, Shanxi Province, China
- May 21, 512, Yingxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 3, 1305, Huairen, Datong, Shanxi Province, China
- November 22, 1683, Shanxi Province, China
- January 10, 1998, Shangyi-Zhangbei, Hebei, Northeastern, China
- October 6, 1628, Hebei Province, China
- October 18, 1989, Shanxi and Hebei Provinces, Datong, China
- September 22, 1898, Shanxi Province, China
- January 13, 1929, Nei Mongol, China
- March 25, 1991, NE, Datong, China
- November 1, 1999, Northeastern, Shanxi, China
- October 8, 1952, Shanxi Province, China
- January 26, 1911, Hebei Province, China
- 1664, Shanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1022The 1000sRecent earthquakes near here
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 7905.