March 26, 1966 Earthquake: Hebei Province, China
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Hebei Province, China on March 26, 1966 at 15:19:04 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
- March 26, 1966
- Time
- 15:19:04 UTC
- Place
- Hebei Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6.2 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.680° N, 115.270° 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.
March 26, 1966, 23:19:04 local time, South of Shulu, Hebei Province, 37 deg 41 min N, 115 deg 16 min E, magnitude 6.2, intensity VII.
The meizoseismal region was as follows:
Baichikou of Ningjin in the west, Siqiying of Shulu in the east, Qiaobeidian and Daluokou of Jixian in the South, around Guoxi in the north.
The above-mentioned region was seriously hit by the earthquake on March 22, the losses accounting for 60-80% of the total. Most of the originally damaged houses collapsed and a greater part of the remaining walls toppled down. At Baichikou and Wangkou, roof beams fell down and roofs were dislocated in some simply constructed houses. At villages such as Hankou in Shulu County and Qiaobeidian in Jixian County, where only a few houses had collapsed during the last shock, the damage was very serious, with most houses destroyed and almost no houses were in fact left. There rehappened such phenomena as eruption of ground water, flowing of sand and widening of old fissures. New fissures also occurred.
Ningjin, Xinhe,Julu, Nangong, Shulu, etc. were also
affected.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 7, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- June 12, 1830, Hebei Province, China
- October 5, 1314, Shexian, Hebei, China
- 777, Shulu, Ningjin, Hebei Province, China
- December 2, 1882, Hebei Province, China
- December 2, 1967, Shulu, Hebei Province, China
- March 22, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- March 6, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- March 19, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- April 20, 1966, Hebei Province, China
- August 5, 2023, Pingyuan, Shangdong Province, China
- August 19, 1956, Shanxi Province, China
- September 18, 1704, Dongguang, Cangxian, Hebei Province, China
- August 14, 1068, Cangzhou, Hejian, Hebei Province, China
- March 27, 1967, Hejian, Dacheng, Hebei Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 1966The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1966Recent 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 8083.