March 2, 1553 Earthquake: Kyongsang-Do, South Korea
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Kyongsang-Do, South Korea on March 2, 1553.
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
- March 2, 1553
- Place
- Kyongsang-Do, South Korea
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Intensity
- VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 35.800° N, 128.800° E
- Country
- South Korea
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
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.
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1213 Kim, So Gu (1980). Earthquakes of the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity (Seismic risk of the Korean Peninsula and plate tectonics). Bulletin of the International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering, vol. 18, p. 101-126.
- #14368 Wen-jie, Z., Ge, W., and Shao-xim, H. (2004). Research in historical earthquakes in the Korean peninsula and its circumferential regions. Acta Seismologica Sinica, vol. 17, No 3. p366-372
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- April 16, 1700, Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
- 780, Kyongju, South Korea
- August 12, 1664, Chonju,chinan, South Korea
- September 12, 2016, Gyeongju, South Korea
- December 100, Kyongju, South Korea
- 123, Kyongju, South Korea
- October 304, Kyongju, South Korea
- June 510, Kyongju, South Korea
- September 12, 664, Kyongju, South Korea
- November 15, 2017, Pohang, South Korea
- July 25, 1643, Sea of Japan, South Korea
- July 3, 1936, South Korea
- June 11, 2024, Jeonbuk, South Korea
- June 12, 1681, Yangyang, Sanchok, South Korea
More
Significant earthquakes of 1553The 1500sRecent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 728.