July 8, 1942 Earthquake: Tongliao, Nei Mongol, China

Name: July 8, 1942 Earthquake: Tongliao, Nei Mongol, China
Start: 1942-07-08
Location: Tongliao, Nei Mongol, China

July 8, 1942 · M6 · Deaths: some

A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Tongliao, Nei Mongol, China on July 8, 1942 at 21:22:27 UTC.

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 8, 1942
Time: 21:22:27 UTC
Place: Tongliao, Nei Mongol, China
Magnitude: 6 (Ms)
Intensity: VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 43.000° N, 122.000° E
Country: China
Region: East Asia
USGS record: The USGS’s page for this earthquake

The toll

Deaths: Some (about 51 to 100)
Injuries: Some (about 51 to 100)
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.

July 9, 1942, 05:22:27 Beijing time, in and around Tongliao, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 43 N, 122 E, magnitude 6, intensity VIII.

Macroseismic epicenter: 43.5 N, 121.9 E

Tongliao: Dust fell in houses and some houses were

tilted slightly. Houses in Majiawopu Village

west of the county cracked or collapsed. The

damp-land cracked more than 30 cm wide and

over 10 m long with ejection of black sandywater.

Fissures also occurred along the roadsides, some

more than 1m long. Wells dried up, and some

persons were killed or injured. Some houses in

Yuliangpu Village were damaged, some people

were injured, damp-land fissured with ejection

of sandy water. In Yinglimiao Village, some

house-gables tilted or cracked, some houses collapsed. In the village, water mingled with sand

ejected from fissures in the ground. Some brick

walls collapsed and dust fell in rooms.

Kailu: Houses in Bao'an Commune tilted under

shaking. Damp ground fissured with ejection of

sand.

Harqin Zuoyi Houqi: Many house walls in Yihuta

Village cracked. Dust fell in houses in Ganqika.

(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.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

January 19, 1940, Nei Mongol, ChinaM6 · Deaths: some · 66 km

Significant earthquakes of 1942 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1942 Recent earthquakes near here This 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 7892. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem900382, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.