June 30, 1642 Earthquake: Shanxi Province, China
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Shanxi Province, China on June 30, 1642.
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
- June 30, 1642
- Place
- Shanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6 (Ms)
- Intensity
- VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 35.100° N, 111.100° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Deaths
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 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.
June 30, 1642, between Anyi and Pinglu, Shanxi Province, 35.1 N, 111.1 E, magnitude 6, intensity VIII.
Pinglu: City walls and civilian houses were damaged.
Cliffs were broken apart.
Anyi: Civilian and government houses collapsed. Some
people were killed.
Yongji and Ronghe (recorded the same year): Most
people were killed.
The shock also struck Xiaxian, Xiexian, Linjin, Yangcheng, Huguan, Qinyuan, Yuanqu in Shanxi Province;
Tongguan in Shaanxi Province; Shanxiau, Wenxiang, Mianchi, Qinyang, Wuzhi in Henan Province. Earthquakes continued for some dozen
days.
(above from reference #3939)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 23, 1556, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 18, 1695, Linfen, Shanxi Province, China
- October 23, 1815, Shanxi Province, China
- December 4, 1209, Fushan, Shaanxi Province, China
- January 19, 1501, Chaoyi, Shaanxi Province, China
- August 25, 1291, Shaanxi Province, China
- March 23, 1827, Shanxi Province, China
- April 30, 1000, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 12, 649, Linfen, Shaanxi Province, China
- October 16, 1505, Anyi, Gueheng, Shanxi Province, China
- September 1, 1964, Shanxi Province, China
- January 12, 1965, Shanxi Province, China
- December 23, 1862, Shanxi Province, China
- August 10, 1959, Shaanxi Province, China
- November 7, 1789, Tongguan, Shaanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1642The 1600sRecent 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 7955.