August 3, 2014 Earthquake: Longtoushan, Zhaotong, Ludian, Yunnan, China

Name: August 3, 2014 Earthquake: Longtoushan, Zhaotong, Ludian, Yunnan, China
Start: 2014-08-03
Location: Longtoushan, Zhaotong, Ludian, Yunnan, China

August 3, 2014 · M6.2 · 615 deaths · $5 billion · 25,800 houses destroyed

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Longtoushan, Zhaotong, Ludian, Yunnan, China on August 3, 2014 at 08:30:13 UTC, 12 km below the surface. It killed 615 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: August 3, 2014
Time: 08:30:13 UTC
Place: Longtoushan, Zhaotong, Ludian, Yunnan, China
Magnitude: 6.2 (Mw)
Focal depth: 12 km (7 mi)
Intensity: 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 27.189° N, 103.409° E
Country: China

The toll

Deaths: 615
Missing: 114
Injuries: 3,143
Damage: $5 billion
Houses destroyed: 25,800
Houses damaged: 160,400

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.

At least 615 people killed, 3,143 injured, 114 missing, 229,700 displaced and 25,800 houses collapsed and 160,400 damaged in Huize, Ludian, Qiaojia and Zhaoyang. Communications disrupted and landslides and rockfalls occurred in the epicentral area. Felt at Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Xichang and Zhaotong. Also felt at Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand and at Hanoi, Vietnam. Zhaotong, Yunnan, China - CDI: 7; Kunming, Yunnan, China - CDI: 4; Ha Noi, Dong Bang Song Hong, Vietnam - CDI: 3; Xichang, Sichuan, China - CDI: 3; Chongqing, Chongqing, China - CDI: 3 (reference #13456)

BEIJING - A strong earthquake in southern China's Yunnan province toppled thousands of homes on Sunday, killing at least 175 people and injuring more than 1,400. About 12,000 homes collapsed in Ludian, a densely populated county of 429,000 people located around 277 miles northeast of Yunnan province's capital, Kunming, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. The magnitude-6.1 quake struck at 4:30 p.m. at a depth of 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Its epicenter was in Longtoushan township, 14 miles southwest of the city of Zhaotong, the Ludian county seat. Ma Liya, a resident of Zhaotong, told Xinhua that the streets there were like a "battlefield after bombardment." She added that her neighbor's house, a new two-story building, had toppled. Xinhua said at least 175 people were killed in the quake, with 181 missing and 1,402 injured. At least 122 of the dead were in Ludian, with another 1,300 people injured there, Xinhua reported. It said another 49 people died, one was missing and 102 were injured in Qiaojia county, which has a population of 580,000. (reference #11044)

LUDIAN, China - The death toll in southern China's earthquake rose to 589 on Wednesday as search and rescue teams pushed into isolated mountain communities to clear debris from collapsed homes. The Yunnan provincial government said more than 2,400 people were injured in Sunday's 6.1 magnitude quake in the mountainous Yunnan farming region of Ludian county - the country's deadliest temblor in four years. (reference #11053)

731 deaths, 3,413 injured 5 billion USD in total damage (reference #1250)

3.269 billion USD economic losses (reference #13727)

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 2014 The 2000s Every quake the USGS located in 2014 Recent earthquakes near here This 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 10106.