April 15, 1955 Earthquake: Xinjiang Province, China
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Xinjiang Province, China on April 15, 1955 at 03:40:58 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
- April 15, 1955
- Time
- 03:40:58 UTC
- Place
- Xinjiang Province, China
- Magnitude
- 7 (Ms)
- Intensity
- IX, violent shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 39.900° N, 74.600° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- 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.
April 15, 1955, 11:40:58 local time, West of Wuqia (Ulugqat), Xinjiang Autonomous Region, 39.9 N, 74.6 E, magnitude 7, intensity IX.
Meizoseismic region: The stricken area extended from
Kalakeqi in the north to Gasi in the south. Most adobe and earth rammed wall houses collapsed, and those left standing cracked open. For instance, more than 20 civilian houses in the 3rd Production Team of Jiulangsu totally collapsed. In
Gasi, 85% of the houses collapsed; ground fissured with ejection of water and sand in flood land along, the hillside. Fissures in the mountain region were 2 m in depth, and those in the flat ground extended 40-50 m in length and 1m in width. Miners working in 10m deep galleries of the Shaerbai Coal Mine felt dizzy and could not stand steady.
Cars parked outside the galleries were displaced for 15 m.
Wuqia: Steel frames were wrenched. 10-20% of the I and II-class houses collapsed and many others cracked. Landslides occurred and rocks fell.
Qieshi: 8 old adobe houses collapsed.
Kashi: Drilling derricks swayed.
Shufu, Akto and Shule: Few I-or II-class houses and enclosing walls collapsed or cracked. People could not stand steady and rushed out in panic.
More than 100 aftershocks occurred.
(above from reference #3939)
April 15, 1955, 03:40:52 UTC, Kirghiz SSR, 40 N, 74.5 E, magnitude 6.9. Felt at Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (reference #45)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- August 22, 1902, Xinjiang, Turkestan, China
- October 5, 2008, Nura, Kyrgyzstan
- August 23, 1985, Wuqua-Shufu, S Xinjiang, China
- June 21, 1898, Xinjiang, China
- March 19, 1996, Artux, Jiashi, Bachu, Kashi, S. Xinjiang, China
- November 1, 1896, Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China
- March 1, 1997, S. Xinjiang, Jiashi County, Kashi, China
- August 29, 1963, Xinjiang, China
- November 25, 2016, Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China
- September 14, 1969, Xinjiang Province, China
- February 13, 1983, Wuqua S, Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Province, China
- November 11, 1936, S, Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Province, China
- April 17, 1990, Wuqia County, S Xinjiang, China
- April 5, 1983, Wuqua, Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Province, China
- December 25, 2002, Wuqia, Xinjiang, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1955The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1955Recent 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 8041.