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: January 23, 1556
Place: Shaanxi Province, China
Magnitude: 8 (Ms)
Intensity: XI, extreme shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 34.500° N, 109.700° E
Country: China
Region: East Asia

The toll

Deaths: 830,000
Damage: Extreme (about $25 million or more)

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.

January 23, 1556, Huaxian, Shaanxi Province, 34.5 N, 109.7 E, magnitude 8, intensity XI.

Sudden shaking struck violently the juncture of Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, involving a tract of land 500 km long. Plains and terraces cracked. On the outskirts, land deformed, either uplifted into mounds, or sunk into gullies. Heavy sounds were heard as if mountains and gorges were rumbling. Water and sand were ejected from fissures. 50% of city walls, temples, governmental offices and civilian houses collapsed. The identified death toll of soldiers and civilians was 830 thousand, and the unidentified uncountable.

(above from reference #3939)

January 23, 1556. Mw = 8.0 to 8.3. Intensity = XI on the Mercalli Scale. Deadliest earthquake in the recorded human history. Nearly 830 thousand people died, as their ‘yaodong’ (cave) houses carved into the loess plateau collapsed during & after the quake. Strong aftershocks followed causing further damage & casualties. It occurred during the reign of the Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. The quake triggered massive landslides. Nearly 40 out of 140 Tang Stone Classics were broken. (reference #13072)

January 23, 1556, Shensi, 34.5 N, 109.7 E, magnitude 8, intensity XI. (reference #1052)

January 23, 1556, Shaanxi, 830,000 deaths. (reference #1051)

January 24, 1556, China (Shensi), about 830,000 deaths. (reference #1055)

January 23, 1556, Shansi, 830,000 deaths. (reference #1003)

February 2, 1556, Shensi,Yellow River Basin, 830,000 deaths. (reference #1002)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#13072 Dilek, Y., Ogawa, Y. and Okubo, Y. (2021). Characterization of Modern and Historical Seismic–TsunamicEvents, and Their Global–Societal Impacts. Geological Society, London, Special Publications,501,1–22. First published online April 13, DOI: 10.1144/SP501-2021-17
#1002 Lomnitz, Cinna (1974). Development in Geotectonics #5, Global Tectonics and Earthquake Risk, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1974.
#3939 Gu Gongxu, Zhou Wenfu, and Wang Renlong (eds.) (1989). Catalogue of Chinese Earthquakes (1831 B.C. - 1969 A.D.). Science Press, Beijing, China; English translation by Li Zengquan et al. provided through UNESCO, 872 pages.
#1003 Bath, Markus (1973). Introduction to Seismology, Halsted Press, 1978.
#1048 Academia Sinica (1970). Catalog of Chinese Earthquakes; vol. I (1177 BC to 1900 AD) and vol. II (1901 to 1949). Institute of Geophysics, Peking, China. [in Chinese]
#1051 Munchener Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft (1998). World Map of Natural Hazards, Munich Federal Republic of Germany
#1052 Lee, W.H.K., F.T. Wu, and C. Jacobsen (1976). A Catalog of Historical Earthquakes in China Compiled from Recent Chinese Publications. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, vol. 66, no. 6, December 1976, p. 2003-2016.
#1055 Milne, John (1911). Catalogue of Destructive Earthquakes [7 to 1899 A.D.], Report of the 81st Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Portsmouth, London, United Kingdom, p. 649-740.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 1556 The 1500s Recent earthquakes near here This 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 732.