August 19, 1956 Earthquake: Shanxi Province, China
A magnitude 5 earthquake struck Shanxi Province, China on August 19, 1956 at 00:44:33 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
- August 19, 1956
- Time
- 00:44:33 UTC
- Place
- Shanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- VII, very strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.800° N, 114.000° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
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.
August 19, 1956, 08:44:33 local time, Northeast of Pingdlng, Shanxi Province, 37.8 N, 114 E, magnitude 5, intensity VII.
In and around Qimlng and Yaolao villages, northeast of the city, more than 10 rooms and 7 cave dwellings collapsed, over 360 rooms (95%) and more than 210 cave dwellings (95%) were damaged seriously, and the rest were also cracked. Mountain slopes slid down and fissured.
Heshun: 20 rooms in Caoping Village collapsed and a section of ground fissured.
Jingxing: 46 rooms in Hetaoyuan Village collapsed.
More than 80% houses were cracked. Plaster in the walls of houses in the county seat were fissured.
The shock was felt at Huolu.
(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 9, 1038, Dingxiang, Xinxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- March 7, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- June 12, 1830, Hebei Province, China
- June 28, 1626, Shanxi Province, China
- May 21, 512, Yingxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- November 22, 1683, Shanxi Province, China
- October 5, 1314, Shexian, Hebei, China
- 777, Shulu, Ningjin, Hebei Province, China
- August 19, 820, Fan Chong, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 22, 1898, Shanxi Province, China
- December 2, 1882, Hebei Province, China
- April 20, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- March 6, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- March 22, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- March 19, 1966, 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 8045.