October 23, 1815 Earthquake: Shanxi Province, China
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Shanxi Province, China on October 23, 1815. It killed 13,000 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
- October 23, 1815
- Place
- Shanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6.8 (Ms)
- Intensity
- IX, violent shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 34.800° N, 111.200° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Deaths
- 13,000
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
- Houses destroyed
- 20,000
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.
From Wikipedia
Western Henan and southern Shanxi in northern China were struck by an earthquake of estimated magnitude Ms6.8 on 23 October 1815. The epicentre was in Pinglu County in southernmost Shanxi, which was the worst affected area. It had a maximum felt intensity of IX (violent) on the Modified Mercalli scale. It caused the collapse of many houses and cave dwellings and led to the deaths of at least 13,000 people.
Text from Wikipedia, “1815 Pinglu earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
October 23, 1815, Pinglu, Shanxi Province, 34.8 N, 111.2 E, magnitude 6.75, intensity IX
The earthquake occurred in Hedong, Xiczhou, Anyl,
Yuxiang, Pinglu and Ruicheng were heavily damaged, with Pinglu affected the most. Landslides occurred,
cliffs fell down, ground fissured, over
20,000 rooms collapsed, and more than 20,000
cave dwellings fell in, killing over 13,000 (some said over 30,000) people. It was the greatest calamity
that had ever befallen during 200 years time.
City walls, storehouses, prisons and office buildings
collapsed, 30-40% of the civilian houses and caves
fell down in Pinglu. The ground cracked suddenly
about 100m long then closed, with ejection
of water mixed with black sand. More than 120
villages suffered losses, specially Xiniu, Xianiu,
Wangjiagou, Yueji, Lingjiao. Cliffs fell, killing
inhabitants living nearby. There were several
thousand victims in Pinglu and 8,677 people were
killed in Maojin Town.
The heavily destroyed regions:
Xiezhou: Some storehouses, prisons, exam halls,
and city walls were wrecked. Many houses and
temples collapsed. 944 people were killed.
Anyi: 105 villages suffered losses. More than 9,800
rooms toppled down. Some storehouses, prisons
and city walls were damaged. Over 290 people
were killed.
Yuncheng: Warehouse walls in the government office fell. In Yanchi, 474 rooms as well as 28km
long enclosing walls collapsed. In Sanyanchang,
gate, towers. city gates, enclosing walls.
and civilian houses were partly ruined. More than
hundred people were killed in the city.
Yuxiang: About 20% of battlements on city walls
collapsed. Dozens, hundreds or thousands of
rooms collapsed in each of the 97 villages in the
whole county. 683 people were killed.
Ruicheng: Civilian houses, storehouses and prisons.
were slightly damaged in the town; while many
houses collapsed in the villages. 80 villages suffered
losses, 1,600 people were killed.
Shanxian: Ail battlements on city walls fell out.
Some temples, storehouses, prisons and exam halls
collapsed. Over 15,000 rooms in tile-roofed houses,
thatched cottages and cave dwellings collapsed,
killing more than 1,340 people.
Lingbao: Some city walls, temples, storehouses, prisons and exam halls were wrecked. Over 14,000
rooms in tile-roofed houses and thatched cottages
collapsed in town and villages, more than 390
people were killed.
(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 23, 1556, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 18, 1695, Linfen, 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
- June 30, 1642, Shanxi Province, China
- January 12, 1965, Shanxi Province, China
- September 1, 1964, Shanxi Province, China
- October 16, 1505, Anyi, Gueheng, Shanxi Province, China
- December 23, 1862, Shanxi Province, China
- November 7, 1789, Tongguan, Shaanxi Province, China
- August 10, 1959, Shaanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1815The 1800sRecent 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 1619.