August 1, 1936 Earthquake: Gansu Province, China
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Gansu Province, China on August 1, 1936 at 06:24:30 UTC. It killed 115 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
- August 1, 1936
- Time
- 06:24:30 UTC
- Place
- Gansu Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 34.200° N, 105.700° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 115
- Injuries
- 31
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 4,459
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.
August 1, 1936, 14:24:30 local time, South of Tianshui, Gansu Province, 34.2 N, 105.7 E, magnitude 6, intensity VIII.
Church enclosures and other walls collapsed. Most forts on hills were destroyed. 4,459 rooms collapsed in towns and villages. An earth mound split and collapsed near Maping, Xingshan. The ground warped. 115 people were killed, 31 injured and more than 600 domestic animals were crushed to death. The range of destruction was about 80 km.
Qin'an: Some house walls near the city gate fell and some cliffs collapsed.
Lixian : Some dozens of rooms collapsed, more than 10 people were killed or injured in the city. Ground fissures and landslides occurred in the western region.
Qingshui: A room of the county government office and a watchtower collapsed. The 3rd and the 4th district suffered heavy losses.
Xihe: Houses in the city were slightly damaged. In
Yan'guan Town more than 1,500 rooms collapsed (there was also a heavy rain). 16 people were killed, 5 seriously wounded and 22 slightly injured.
Jingchuan: A cave dwelling collapsed in Hujiazhuang
(1.5 10m from the city). 3 people were killed.
Haiyuan : Trees were broken and many houses collapsed.
Tongwei : Houses collapsed, people and domestic
animals were wounded.
Fengxian: A civilian house and other dilapidated houses outside the eastern city gate collapsed.
In addition, the shock was felt in Longde, Wudu, Pingliang, Huixian, Lanzhou, Zhangxian, Longxi and Chengxian in Gansu Province; and Xi'an, Lintong in Shaanxi 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 12, 1306, Kaicheng, Ningxia, China
- September 2, 1765, Wushan, Gangu, Gansu Province, China
- February 22, 186 BC, Gansu Province, China
- July 20, 1881, 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
- June 18, 1822, Gansu Province, China
- June 22, 1880, Wenxian, Gansu Province, China
- May 25, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1936The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1936Recent 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 3578.