1855 Earthquake: Sichuan Province, China
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Sichuan Province, China in 1855. It caused a tsunami.
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
- 1855
- Place
- Sichuan Province, China
- Magnitude
- 4.8 (Ms)
- Intensity
- VI, strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 29.200° N, 108.100° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 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.
1855, Autumn, Pengshui, Sichuan Province, 29.2 N, 108.1 E, magnitude 4.75, intensity VI. Kitchen ranges were reported destroyed in house near the river north of the city. River water surged up to a height of over 3 m. (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.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1855The 1800sRecent earthquakes near here
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 7984.