August 10, 1487 Earthquake: Lintong, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, China
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Lintong, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, China on August 10, 1487. It killed 1,900 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
- August 10, 1487
- Place
- Lintong, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6.3 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 34.400° N, 108.900° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 1,900
- 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.
August 10, 1487, between Lintong and Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, 34.4 N, 108.9 E, magnitude 6.25, intensity VIII.
Earth quaked in Shaanxi with heavy sound as thunder.
Many hills collapsed. Houses were destroyed.
Over 1900 people were killed.
Lintong: Earth quaked with thunder-like sound.
Many houses were destroyed. Many people were killed.
Xianyang: Many houses collapsed, people were killed.
Xi'an: The pagoda in Jianfu Temple cracked 40 cm inside.
Shocks also struck Gaoling, Baishui, Zhongbu
(Huangling) and Luochuan. (Fig. 18)
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 23, 1556, Shaanxi Province, China
- January 19, 1501, Chaoyi, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 15, 1568, Xian, Shaanxi Province, China
- December 13, 600, Shaanxi Province, China
- April 30, 1000, Shaanxi Province, China
- January 1001, Tsin, Shaanxi Province, China
- November 7, 1789, Tongguan, Shaanxi Province, China
- December 1634, Lingtai, Gansu Province, China
- July 1631, Ningxia, China
- September 28, 1704, Longxian, Shaanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1487The 1400sRecent 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 643.