September 1, 1964 Earthquake: Shanxi Province, China
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck Shanxi Province, China on September 1, 1964 at 22:20:30 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
- September 1, 1964
- Time
- 22:20:30 UTC
- Place
- Shanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 4.7 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 35.100° N, 111.600° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 23
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.
September 2, 1964, 06:20:30 local time, Southeast of Xiaxian County, Shanxi Province, 35.1 N, 111.6 E, magnitude 4.7.
Pinglu: 16 cave dwellings and one house of Caojiachuan
Commune collapsed. 119 houses, about 47% of the total buildings of Puodi, Guoyuan, Sitou, Xiaping villages to the east of Pinglu county seat had their tiles fallen down, roof ridges over, turned and wails split. The volume of flow
increased in Yatou Production Brigade, Caojiachuan
Commune after the shock.
Xiaxian: 6 cave dwellings in Yangjiashan Brigade
Qijiahe Commune collapsed. Ground fissures 4.5m in length, 0.7 cm in width and 1m deep occurred in Xishantou and Qijiapuo brigades. A hill in the Longwo Brigade, Miaoqian Commune land slid, destroying more than 40 mu of farmland;
Two springs in Xiaojiazhuang Brigade dried after
the shock.
Yuanqu: Dust fell in some old houses. A three arch cave dwelling in Nanpuo collapsed.
The shock was felt in Qinshui, Wenxi and Quwo.
(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 23, 1556, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 18, 1695, Linfen, Shanxi Province, China
- October 23, 1815, Shanxi Province, China
- December 4, 1209, Fushan, Shaanxi Province, China
- January 19, 1501, Chaoyi, Shaanxi Province, China
- August 25, 1291, Shaanxi Province, China
- March 23, 1827, Shanxi Province, China
- April 30, 1000, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 12, 649, Linfen, Shaanxi Province, China
- January 12, 1965, Shanxi Province, China
- December 23, 1862, Shanxi Province, China
- June 30, 1642, Shanxi Province, China
- October 16, 1505, Anyi, Gueheng, Shanxi Province, China
- August 10, 1959, Shaanxi Province, China
- November 7, 1789, Tongguan, Shaanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1964The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1964Recent 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 8073.