December 9, 2008 Earthquake: Sichuan Province, China
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck Sichuan Province, China on December 9, 2008 at 18:53:11 UTC, 25 km below the surface. It killed 2 people.
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 9, 2008
- Time
- 18:53:11 UTC
- Place
- Sichuan Province, China
- Magnitude
- 4.5 (Ms)
- Magnitude scales
- Ms 4.5 · mb 5.5
- Focal depth
- 25 km (16 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 32.518° N, 105.395° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 3
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 two people killed at Guangyuan and three injured in Lizhou. Felt (II) at Chengdu. Also felt at Ziyang.
From the USGS event page for usp000gq9u. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.11 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
At least two people killed at Guangyuan and three injured in Lizhou. (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.
- July 1, 1879, Gansu Province, China
- July 21, 1654, Tianshui, Gansu Province, China
- August 25, 1933, Sichuan Province, China
- February 22, 186 BC, Gansu Province, China
- July 20, 1881, Gansu Province, China
- August 1, 1936, Gansu Province, China
- January 1634, Xihe, Gansu Province, China
- August 8, 2017, Aba, Sichuan Province, China
- June 18, 1822, Gansu Province, China
- May 25, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
- June 22, 1880, Wenxian, Gansu Province, China
- August 5, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
- July 24, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
- May 27, 2008, Sichuan Province, China
- June 20, 2006, Gansu Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 2008The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2008Recent 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 8254. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp000gq9u, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.