July 20, 1881 Earthquake: Gansu Province, China
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Gansu Province, China on July 20, 1881. It killed 480 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
- July 20, 1881
- Place
- Gansu Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 33.600° N, 104.600° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 480
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 4,800
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.
July 20, 1881, SW of Lixian, Gansu Province,33.6 N, 104.6 E, magnitude 6.5, intensity VIII.
More than 4,800 rooms of houses in and around Yueping and Datan villages (E of Zhouqu, about 80 km SW of Lixian) collapsed, 480 people and innumerable domestic animals were killed.
Xigu (the present-day Zhouqu): A gate tower collapsed.
Some office buildings and civilian houses collapsed. A person was killed in the city.
Wudu: More than 1,100 battlements collapsed, city
walls were split for over 125 m long, and some houses
in the city were destroyed. More than 120 rooms
of houses in Liulinjun, Yongchuanli, Shimenli and
Juegongzhen villages collapsed, with 27 people injured and 42 killed.
The earthquake also struck Xihe, Lanzhou, Longxi, Tongwei, Pingliang, T'ianshui, Qin'an, Jingchuan and Wenxian of Gansu Province; Guyuan of Ningxia Autonomous Region; Dali; Qianyang, Huaxian Huayin, Xi 'an, Fengxiang
Hanzhong, Yan'an, Qjanxien, Binxian, Fuxian,
Ankang, Qishan and Fengxian ofShaanxi Province;
Guang'an and Shehong of Sichuan Province; Xining;
of Qinghai Province.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- June 19, 1718, Gansu Province, China
- July 1, 1879, Gansu Province, China
- July 21, 1654, Tianshui, Gansu Province, China
- September 2, 1765, Wushan, Gangu, Gansu Province, China
- February 22, 186 BC, Gansu Province, China
- August 1, 1936, Gansu Province, China
- March 19, 734, Tianshui, Gansu Province, China
- July 21, 2013, Dingxi, Min, Gansu, China
- January 14, 1885, Gansu Province, China
- September 10, 1837, Gansu Province, China
- January 1634, Xihe, Gansu Province, China
- August 8, 2017, Aba, Sichuan Province, China
- June 18, 1822, Gansu Province, China
- June 22, 1880, Wenxian, Gansu Province, China
- May 25, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1881The 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 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 2304.