April 17, 1891 Earthquake: Shanxi Province, China
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Shanxi Province, China on April 17, 1891. It killed 31 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
- April 17, 1891
- Place
- Shanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 5.8 (Ms)
- Intensity
- VII, very strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.100° N, 111.900° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Deaths
- 31
- Injuries
- 65 with its tsunami and other effects
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
April 17, 1891, Jiexiu and Xiaoyi, Shanxi Province, 37.1 N, 111.9 E, magnitude 5.75, intensity VII.
Jiexiu: Some storehouses, prisons, city walls and battlements collapsed or sunk. Official and civilian
buildings in the city and villages were still inhabitable
despite of suffering from relatively heavy wall
collapsing. But the case was different with Jintun,
Changle, Xizhan and Quannanzhuang villages in
the southern and westsouthern part of the city,where
whole rooms even whole houses toppled down. 5 persons were killed and more than 30 injured. (In addition, according to an investigation made in recent years, 18 cave dwellings in Zhenxing Village fell in, killing 18 persons)
Xiaoyi: Losses were generally similar to those
suffered in Jiexiu. 8 persons were killed, 35 injured.
Yitang (southwest of Jiexiu): The top of a tower fell
under shaking. Cave dwellings collapsed.
Lingshi: Some houses cracked, others collapsed.
The quake also hit Fenyang, Pingyao, Changzhi, Yonghe of Shanxi Province; Suide, Jiaxian of Shaanxi 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.
- #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 9, 1038, Dingxiang, Xinxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 18, 1695, Linfen, Shanxi Province, China
- December 4, 1209, Fushan, Shaanxi Province, China
- November 22, 1683, Shanxi Province, China
- October 5, 1314, Shexian, Hebei, China
- August 25, 1291, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 12, 649, Linfen, Shaanxi Province, China
- August 19, 820, Fan Chong, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 20, 1618, Shanxi Province, China
- 1545, Hiao Yi, Shaanxi Province, China
- October 23, 1614, Shaanxi Province, China
- January 15, 1102, Chin,hsi Tai IN Tai,yuan, Shanxi Province, China
- July 8, 1368, Xugou, Shanxi Province, China
- September 17, 1303, Shanxi Province, China
- 1890, Shanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1891The 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 2407.