December 31, 1956 Earthquake: Hebei Province, China
A magnitude 5 earthquake struck Hebei Province, China on December 31, 1956 at 21:33:22 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
- December 31, 1956
- Time
- 21:33:22 UTC
- Place
- Hebei Province, China
- Magnitude
- 5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 6 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 40.500° N, 115.500° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50)
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.
January 1, 1957, 05:33:22 local time, Near Zhuolu, Hebei Province, 40.5 N, 115.5 E, magnitude 5, intensity VI.
Many cracks occurred in the walls of houses in Dongxiaozhuang Village, east of the county seat, and 3
rooms in civilian houses collapsed. Minor crevices
occurred in the walls of a few houses in the county
seat.
Huailai: One wall fell. Fissures occurred widely
in the walls of old mud houses.
Shacheng: New buildings were cracked.
The shock was felt at Yangyuan, Xuanhua, Zhang,
jiakou and Beijing.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- 1057, Beijing, China
- September 2, 1679, Hebei Province, China
- August 1289, Beijing, China
- June 28, 1626, Shanxi Province, China
- September 30, 1730, Beijing, China
- September 294, Beijing, China
- January 10, 1998, Shangyi-Zhangbei, Hebei, Northeastern, China
- October 6, 1628, Hebei Province, China
- October 18, 1989, Shanxi and Hebei Provinces, Datong, China
- July 12, 1720, Hebei Province, China
- September 8, 1337, Huailai, Hebei, China
- January 29, 1484, Beijing, China
- March 11, 1999, Zhangbei County, NE, China
- January 26, 1911, Hebei Province, China
- February 3, 1658, Hebei Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1956The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1956Recent 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 8046.