December 21, 1913 Earthquake: Yunnan Province, China
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Yunnan Province, China on December 21, 1913 at 15:37:38 UTC, 10 km below the surface. It killed 942 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
- December 21, 1913
- Time
- 15:37:38 UTC
- Place
- Yunnan Province, China
- Magnitude
- 7 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 10 km (6 mi)
- Intensity
- IX, violent shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 24.150° N, 102.450° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
The toll
- Deaths
- 942
- Injuries
- 112
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Very many (over 1,000)
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.
From Wikipedia
The 1913 Eshan earthquake struck China's Yunnan Province on 21 December with a moment magnitude of 6.8 and maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shock devastated Eshan County; at least 942 people died and thousands of homes were destroyed. The earthquake ruptured along a section of the strike-slip Qujiang Fault.
Text from Wikipedia, “1913 Eshan earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
December 21, 1913, 23:37:38 local time, E'shan, Yunnan Province, 24 deg 09 min N, 102 deg 27 min E, depth 10 km, magnitude 7, intensity IX.
Many city walls and bridges collapsed. All the schools, temples and official buildings and 80-90% of civilian dwellings toppled down. Landslips occurred everywhere in the mountain area. The ground split some 10 cm wide. Water with sand spurted from farmland (Many people reportedly fell into the ground fissures). 942 people were killed and 112 injured. (Another report went that more than 1,900 people were killed.)
Tonghai: Some official and civilian buildings in the
county seat collapsed. More than 1,000 civilian dwellings collapsed and 9 people were killed in Shenjiaying and other villages in the western part of the countryside.
Hexi: Two battlements collapsed about 8 m long. Many official buildings, prisons as well as private dwellings collapsed, causing 1 death and 2 injuries in the county seat, and 343 deaths and 154 injuries in the countryside. A landslide occurred at the hill Longfengshan.
Yuxi: The top of the Wenxing Pagoda in Houyu toppled down. 5 hattlements collapsed for 53 m long, County government buildings as well as many old civilian houses collapsed. 16 people were killed and one injured.
Gejiu: Government office buildings fell down. Innumerable
civilian houses collapsed. Few people were killed.
Jiangchuan: More than 10 house walls were destroyed in Pumiao Township, Yuanlai District.
Xinping: One room in the county office collapsed, killing 3 persons. Many houses collapsed in villages of the East District adjacent to E'shan County.
Quxi: A few old shabby houses collapsed and many walls were twisted out of shape.
Huaning: Some walls fell down.
Longwu: Some old gables collapsed.
Jinning: One wall and one room fell down.
Mile: Two old, shabby mud houses cracked.
Chenggong: Roof-tiles fell down and some walls cracked.
Furnin: Some tilted old shabby houses collapsed under shaking.
Anning: A few shabby houses collapsed.
Kunyang: Some old, shabby houses in the suburb collapsed under shaking.
Kunming (houses were shaken violently and were verging on collapse)
The quake was also felt in Yao'an, Yiliang, Menzi, Lunan, Shiping Luoci, and Luliang.
The earthquake occurred around eleven o'clock in the night.
(above from reference #3939)
December 21, 1913, 15:37:48 UTC, 24.5 N, 102 E, magnitude 7.2. (reference #88)
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.
- #88 Duda, Seweryn J. (1965). Secular seismic energy release in the circum-Pacific belt. Tectonophysics, vol. 2, no. 5, p. 409-452. DOI:10.1016/0040-1951(65)90035-1
- #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]
- #1185 Nutalaya, P.S. Sodsri and E.P. Arnold (1985). Southeast Asia Association of Seismology, Series on Seismology, vol. II - Thailand, U.S. Geological Survey.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 4, 1970, Hanoi, Yunnan Province, Vietnam, China
- January 4, 1500, Yiliang, Yunnan Province, China
- 1499, Yi Liang, Yunnan Province, China
- September 6, 1833, Yunnan Province, China
- September 9, 1680, Yunnan Province, China
- February 26, 1713, S of Xundian, Yunnan Province, China
- August 27, 1799, Yunnan Province, China
- December 16, 1887, Yunnan Province, China
- November 30, 1606, Jianshui, Yunnan Province, China
- December 30, 1763, Yunnan Province, China
- November 24, 1814, Siping, Yunnan Province, China
- January 8, 1725, Songming, Yiliang, Yunnan Province, China
- January 27, 1755, Yunnan Province, China
- April 6, 1940, Yunnan Province, China
- May 23, 1761, Yunnan Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1913The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1913Recent 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 2993. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem914108, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.