December 4, 1209 Earthquake: Fushan, Shaanxi Province, China
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Fushan, Shaanxi Province, China on December 4, 1209. It killed 3,000 people.
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
- December 4, 1209
- Place
- Fushan, Shaanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6.3 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.000° N, 111.800° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 3,000
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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 the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
December 4, 1209, Fushan, Shanxi Province, 36 N, 11.8 E, magnitude 6.25, intensity VIII-IX.
70 - 80% of the offices and civilian houses collapsed.
and 2,000 - 3,000 people were killed. Earthquake
struck the Pingyang Prefecture (the seat of
its local government was located at Linfen) with.
sound coming from the northwest.
(above from reference #3939)
Reference #1052 lists December 4, 1209, Shansi, 36 N, 11.8 E, magnitude 6.25, intensity 8.5.
Reference #1055 lists December 6, 1209, China (Shansi), Fushan in Pingyan Fu; about 3000 lives lost, intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 18, 1695, Linfen, Shanxi Province, China
- October 23, 1815, Shanxi Province, China
- October 5, 1314, Shexian, Hebei, China
- August 25, 1291, Shaanxi Province, China
- March 23, 1827, Shanxi Province, China
- April 30, 1000, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 12, 649, Linfen, Shaanxi Province, China
- April 17, 1891, Shanxi Province, China
- August 19, 820, Fan Chong, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 17, 1303, Shanxi Province, China
- December 23, 1862, Shanxi Province, China
- December 18, 1967, Shanxi Province, China
- August 10, 1959, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 1, 1964, Shanxi Province, China
- May 20, 1618, Shanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1209The 1200sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
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 448.