April 10, 1495 Earthquake: Zhongwei, Ningxia, China
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Zhongwei, Ningxia, China on April 10, 1495.
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 10, 1495
- Place
- Zhongwei, Ningxia, China
- Magnitude
- 6.3 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.600° N, 105.600° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Injuries
- 12
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 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 10, 1494, East of Zhongwei, Ningxia Autonomous Region, 37.6 N, 105.6 E, magnitude 6.25, intensity VIII.
The front doors of the gate tower of Shikongpu (Shikongsipu) and others were all collapsed. The enclosing walls of Zhenluying collapsed about 15 m in length. At Yongfeng and other places, 8 mounds and stages collapsed and enclosing walls collapsed over 300 m in length. The great enclosing walls of Rouyuanpu collapsed about 40 m in length.
Over 50 military houses collapsed. 12 people were
injured. Earthquakes occurred 12 times a day.
Note: Shikongpu was located 40 km E of the presentday
Zhongwei, Zhenluying was 20 km to the
cast of the present-day Zhongwel, and Rouyuanpu
was 5 km to the east of the present day
Zhongwei. Yongfeng is unverifiable.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 16, 1920, Gansu Province, Shanxi Province, China
- January 3, 1739, Ningxia, China
- October 25, 1622, Pingliang, Longde, Ningxia, China
- April 1143, Ningxia, China
- June 2, 1219, Ningxia, China
- September 12, 1306, Kaicheng, Ningxia, China
- October 14, 1709, Ningxia, China
- July 25, 1561, E of Zhongwei, Ningxia, China
- May 26, 1852, Ningxia, China
- November 21, 1748, Ningxia, China
- October 20, 1990, Tianzhu, Gansu Province, China
- February 15, 1627, Ningxia, China
- July 14, 876, Qingtongxia, Ningxia, China
- December 17, 1962, Ningxia, China
- January 3, 1988, Lingwu, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1495The 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 7919.