September 12, 1306 Earthquake: Kaicheng, Ningxia, China
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Kaicheng, Ningxia, China on September 12, 1306. It killed 5,000 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
- September 12, 1306
- Place
- Kaicheng, Ningxia, China
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 35.900° N, 106.100° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 5,000
- 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.
September 12, 1306, S of Guyuan, Ningxia Autonomous Region, 35.9 N, 106.1 E, magnitude 6.5, intensity VIII-IX.
All the palaces and official and civilian houses at Kaicheng, south of Guyuan were destroyed. Over 5,000 people were killed.
Note: Kaicheng was located 20 km southwest of the
present-day Guyuan.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 16, 1920, Gansu Province, Shanxi Province, China
- June 19, 1718, Gansu Province, China
- October 25, 1622, Pingliang, Longde, Ningxia, China
- July 21, 1654, Tianshui, Gansu Province, China
- June 2, 1219, Ningxia, China
- September 2, 1765, Wushan, Gangu, Gansu Province, China
- October 14, 1709, Ningxia, China
- July 25, 1561, E of Zhongwei, Ningxia, China
- May 26, 1852, Ningxia, China
- August 1, 1936, Gansu Province, China
- March 19, 734, Tianshui, Gansu Province, China
- January 14, 1885, Gansu Province, China
- November 21, 1748, Ningxia, China
- April 18, 1352, Gansu Province, China
- April 14, 1982, Gansu Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1306The 1300sRecent 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 509.