February 2, 1960 Earthquake: Gansu Province, China
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Gansu Province, China on February 2, 1960 at 23:51:59 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
- February 2, 1960
- Time
- 23:51:59 UTC
- Place
- Gansu Province, China
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 6 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 33.800° N, 104.500° 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.
February 3, 1960, 07:51:59 local time, Zhugqu, Gansu Province, 33.8 N, 104.5 E, magnitude 5.25, intensity VI.
Zhugqu: 3 mud houses and 2 walls collapsed by a city gate. 2 old houses collapsed at Guanting. Walls and plaster ofbrick chimneys cracked. Rocks fell down.
Wudu: Stone cliffs collapsed around Lianghekou and Shawano A fissure, 4-5 m in length and 1-2 cm in width, occurred in the road to Liucheng. In the city sleepers were awakened by rocking.
Minxian: One old mud house collapsed under shaking at the Niujia Production Team. The shock was felt over the townships and the countrysides. People ran outdoors in panic.
Dangchang: Rocks rolled downhill, houses rattled, people ran outdoors in panic.
Chengxian: Eaves tiles fell at three places by a city gate and a gable fissured and collapsed after two days.
Wenxian: The shock was felt by everybody, and some of them ran outdoors.
The shock was felt by a few persons at Huixian, Tianshui and Qin'an.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- June 19, 1718, Gansu Province, China
- July 1, 1879, Gansu Province, China
- July 21, 1654, Tianshui, Gansu Province, China
- September 2, 1765, Wushan, Gangu, Gansu Province, China
- February 22, 186 BC, Gansu Province, China
- July 20, 1881, Gansu Province, China
- August 1, 1936, Gansu Province, China
- March 19, 734, Tianshui, Gansu Province, China
- July 21, 2013, Dingxi, Min, Gansu, China
- January 14, 1885, Gansu Province, China
- September 10, 1837, Gansu Province, China
- January 1634, Xihe, Gansu Province, China
- August 8, 2017, Aba, Sichuan Province, China
- June 18, 1822, Gansu Province, China
- June 22, 1880, Wenxian, Gansu Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1960The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1960Recent 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 8055.