September 28, 1831 Earthquake: Anhui Province, China

Name: September 28, 1831 Earthquake: Anhui Province, China
Start: 1831-09-28
Location: Anhui Province, China

September 28, 1831 · M6.3 · 33 deaths

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Anhui Province, China on September 28, 1831. It killed 33 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: September 28, 1831
Place: Anhui Province, China
Magnitude: 6.3 (Ms)
Intensity: VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 32.800° N, 116.800° E
Country: China
Region: East Asia

The toll

Deaths: 33
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.

September 28, 1831, Northeast of Fengtai, Anhui Province, 32.8 N, 116.8 E, magnitude 6.25, intensity VIII.

Over 300 rooms of thatched cottages and tile-roofed

houses collapsed, 27 persons were killed in Jijiaji Village (in the northeast of the county). Houses in Shanliji Village (adjacent to Shanliji), collapsed, 6 persons were killed. Mt. Ping'e (between Huaiyuan and Fengtai counties, 30 km south of Huaiyuan) cracked some 50 m long.

Shouxian: Walls of some old civilian houses cracked.

Huoqiu: Walls collapsed.

Yingshang: Some houses fell down.

The earthquake also struck Taihe, Wuhe, Huaiyuan, Lai'an, Chuxian and Fengyang in Anhui Province; Nanjing, Jurong, Lishui, Liyang, Yizheng, Pixian, Suining and Yixing in Jiangsu Province; Yixian in Shandong Province: Fengqiu in Henan Province.

(above from reference #3939)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#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]
#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.

Significant earthquakes of 1831 The 1800s Recent earthquakes near here This 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 1746.