December 31, 1994 Earthquake: Guangxi Province, Guandong Province, China
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Guangxi Province, Guandong Province, China on December 31, 1994 at 02:57:20 UTC, 33 km below the surface.
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, 1994
- Time
- 02:57:20 UTC
- Place
- Guangxi Province, Guandong Province, China
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Mw)
- Magnitude scales
- Mw 5.3 · Ms 5.3 · mb 5.7
- Focal depth
- 33 km (21 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 20.524° N, 109.330° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Mw: moment magnitude, based on the slip on the fault and the area that slipped. Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.
The toll
- Injuries
- 360
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 1,100
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 happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
At least 360 people injured in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces and more than 1,100 houses damaged in Guangxi Province. Felt at Beihai, Guangzhou, Haikou, Nanning, Sanya and Zhanjiang. Also felt at Hong Kong. CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR (HRV) Data Used: GSN L.P.B.: 27S, 45C Centroid Location: Origin Time 02:57:19.8 0.3 Lat 20.56N 0.04 Lon 109.43E 0.05 Dep 32.1 3.1 Half-duration 1.1 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**17 Nm Mrr=0.51 0.06 Mtt=-0.46 0.05 Mff=-0.05 0.08 Mrt=-0.25 0.09 Mrf=0.08 0.09 Mtf=-1.05 0.07 Principal Axes: (T) Val=0.93 Plg=27 Azm=229 (N) Val=0.40 Plg=62 Azm=59 (P) Val=-1.33 Plg=4 Azm=321 Best Double Couple:Mo=1.1*10**17 NP1:Strike=8 Dip=68 Slip=17 NP2:Strike=272 Dip=74 Slip=157
From the USGS event page for usp0006qne. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | Mw, moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.3 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
At least 360 people injured in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces and more than 1,100 houses damaged in Guangxi Province. Felt at Beihai, Guangzhou, Haikou, Nanning, Sanya and Zhanjiang. Also felt at Hong Kong. (reference #1053)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1994The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1994Recent 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 5398. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp0006qne, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.