August 3, 1820 Earthquake: Henan Province, China
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Henan Province, China on August 3, 1820. It killed 430 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
- August 3, 1820
- Place
- Henan Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6 (Ms)
- Intensity
- VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 34.100° N, 113.800° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Deaths
- 430
- Injuries
- 590
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
- Houses destroyed
- 26,040
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.
August 3, 1820, NE of Xuchang, Henan Province, 34.1 N, 113.9 E, magnitude 6, intensity VIII. The earthquake destroyed countless dwellings in 169 of the northeastern villages in Xuchang, over 9,100 rooms in tile-roofed houses and 16,940 rooms in thatched cottages collapsed. Over 430 people were killed and more than 590 injured. The earthquake also struck Yuxian, Linying, Yanling, Fugou, Huaiyang, Wuzhi, Linru, Yiyang Biyang, Kaifeng. (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.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1820The 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 1651.