November 22, 1683 Earthquake: Shanxi Province, China
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Shanxi Province, China on November 22, 1683. It killed 1,001 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
- November 22, 1683
- Place
- Shanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 7 (Ms)
- Intensity
- IX, violent shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 38.700° N, 112.700° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Deaths
- 1,001
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
- Houses destroyed
- Very many (over 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.
November 22, 1683, in and around Yuanping, Shanxi Province, 38.7 N, 112.7 E, magnitude 7, intensity IX.
Dingxiang: All the watch towers and battlements
around the county seat cracked. In front of the county government office building, both the Jingshan and Shenming pavilions fell. Buildings in villages collapsed killing more than 1,000 people and numerous domestic animals. The ground fissured with ejection of water or black sand. Hengshan and Pingyan, etc. suffered the most.
Wutai: City wails tilted and cracked. Watch towers,
parapets, the government office buildings, warehouses and temples collapsed completely. Many people were killed.
Mayi (E of Shuoxian) : Farmhouses were damaged and
the eastern city wails and moat collapsed during rocking. Both the main gate and the ceremony gate of the school collapsed.
Daixian: Houses were damaged, many people were killed.
Shuoxian and Youyu: Farmhouses were damaged.
Ningwu: City walls collapsed.
Baode: The Confucian Temple was damaged. Some people were killed.
Linxian: City walls and parapets collapsed.
Jingle: Some dozen metres of the city walls on hills
collapsed.
Ximdan: Many official and civilian buildings were razed. People and domestic animals were injured.
Jiaocheng: Numerous houses collapsed during shaking.
Some people were killed.
Pingyao: Most of the bulidlngs were damaged. Injuries
were reported.
Wuxiang: Buildings collapsed and some people were killed.
Yuei: Many schools were ruined. The city walls in the south gate were damaged for some dozens of meters long.
Yuxian: Several battlements were damaged.
Lucheng: Houses were destroyed.
Zuoyun: Innumerable civilian houses collapsed.
Jiexiu: Most houses collapsed.
Lingqiu, Guangling: The earth quaked, and the government
exempted the disaster area one-third of taxes for the next year.
Longquanguan] west of Fuping: City walls collapsed.
Jingxing: Civilian houses were damaged.
Pingding: Battlements were damaged.
The felt area covered:
Qinxian, Changzi, Taiyuan, Xiangyuan, Linyi in
Shanxi Province, Suide in Shaanxi Province; Kaifeng,
Qixian, Yuanwu, Qinyang, Wuzhi, Mengxian,
Weishi Xuchang, Changge, Sisui, Jixian Xinxiang
Junxian, Xiuwu in Henan Province; Laiyuan,
Lingshou, Jinxian, Lincheng, Wu'an, Qiu.o·dan,
Shexian, Ylxian, Wuqiang, Cangxian, Dongguang
in Hebei Province: Wudi, Qingyun, Yuxian in
Shandong Province. Aftershocks occurred some
dozen times a day, then, several times or once
per day for a period of 5-6 years before dying.
(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.
- #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]
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 9, 1038, Dingxiang, Xinxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- June 28, 1626, Shanxi Province, China
- May 21, 512, Yingxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 3, 1305, Huairen, Datong, Shanxi Province, China
- April 17, 1891, Shanxi Province, China
- October 18, 1989, Shanxi and Hebei Provinces, Datong, China
- August 19, 820, Fan Chong, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 22, 1898, Shanxi Province, China
- 1664, Shanxi Province, China
- October 8, 1952, Shanxi Province, China
- June 10, 1957, Shanxi Province, China
- June 23, 1883, Shanxi Province, China
- August 4, 1561, Shaanxi,gansu,and Shanxi Provinces, China
- September 15, 1937, Shanxi Province, China
- July 8, 1368, Xugou, Shanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1683The 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 1095.