May 2, 1748 Earthquake: Sichuan Province, China
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Sichuan Province, China on May 2, 1748.
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
- May 2, 1748
- Place
- Sichuan Province, China
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- VII, very strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 32.900° N, 103.600° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
May 2, 1748, N of Songpan, Sichuan Province, 32.9 N, 103.6 E, magnitude 5.5, intensity VII.
Songpan: The outer Great Wall collapsed at 7 places at the Huangsheng Pass, for a total length of 40 meters. The east and west wharfs were also destroyed. Gate towers, government office buildings, barracks, temples, beacon towers and watchtowers all suffered from tilting and damaging. The same occurred to the 12 beacon mounds, watchtowers and wooden city walls between the Baimu Bridge and Fenxuntang.
In Zhanglaying 8 battlements on the four sides of the city walls collapsed. The gate tower on the south gate was tilted, and tiles were upset. Trees were uprooted and roads were blocked. A battlement collapsed at the Xiaoxi gate of Songpan city.
Nanping: Houses, beacon mounds and wooden walls at Dian'an and Chongpan were tilted or damaged.
4 tremors occurred during 23:00-1:00 in the night and 7:00-90:00 in the morning.
(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.
- July 1, 1879, Gansu Province, China
- August 25, 1933, Sichuan Province, China
- July 20, 1881, Gansu Province, China
- July 21, 2013, Dingxi, Min, Gansu, China
- September 10, 1837, Gansu Province, China
- August 8, 2017, Aba, Sichuan Province, China
- October 8, 1941, Sichuan Province, China
- June 18, 1822, Gansu Province, China
- June 22, 1880, Wenxian, Gansu Province, China
- May 25, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
- August 5, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
- December 9, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
- July 24, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
- September 22, 1989, Xiaojin County, Sichuan Province, China
- November 9, 1960, Sichuan Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1748The 1700sRecent 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 8096.