February 11, 1954 Earthquake: Gansu Province, China

February 11, 1954, 08:30:15 local time, Northeast of Shandan, Gansu, 39 N, 101.3 E, depth 10 km, magnitude 7.25, intensity X.

Meizoseismic region: From Bijilt to Dishuiquan. Great

fracture zone mainly through loess formation, occasionally through rock outcrop, with a length of 20km; at some places, horizontal and vertical displacements occurred between two blocks, leading to the local raising or subsiding of the earth. At both ends of this fracture zone, some tops of mountains fractured with earth block turned over; ridges around it also cracked, landslides occurred.

Shandan: City walls were destroyed seriously, towers

and chimneys of factories fell, monuments and statues turned round or fell. Temples were generally destroyed. In the county seat, 7% of normal wooden frame houses collapsed, 20% were seriously destroyed. In the city and countryside, 40% of the mud houses collapsed, 6% were damaged. In newly built offices and schools, as well as a few houses with brick pillars and frameworks, some walls cracked, some roof-ciles fell down from eaves. Inside and outside the county seat, small fissures occurred on the ground. In mountain basins, flow of springs increased, new springs occurred.

Dongle: City walls cracked, a few sections of which

collapsed, the west watch tower fen down. More than 10 old wooden frame houses collapsed.

Zhargye: Battlements partly fell, houses were damaged,

some old gables and houses collapsed.

Jiuquan: Many steep and unstable slopes avalanched, river water surged.

Yongchang: A few old walls fell, eaves tiles fell down.

A fissure, 25 m in length, 3 cm in width, occurred in the field.

Wuwei: One old wall fell. Fissures occurred on the walls of the 2-storeyed buildings.

The shock was felt in MinIe, Minqin, Yumeng, Jiuquan, Gulang, Yongdeng and Lanzhou in Gansu Province; Xining, Huangyuan and Haiyan in Qinghai Province; Haibowan and Bayan Hot in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

(above from reference #3939)