December 8, 2016 Earthquake: Urumqi, N. Xinjiang, China
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Urumqi, N. Xinjiang, China on December 8, 2016 at 05:15:04 UTC, 18 km below the surface. It killed 1 person.
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 8, 2016
- Time
- 05:15:04 UTC
- Place
- Urumqi, N. Xinjiang, China
- Magnitude
- 6 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 18 km (11 mi)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 43.823° N, 86.345° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Damage
- $135 million
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.
One person killed in the epicentral area. Felt (III) at Urumqi. Also felt at Shihezi. Felt at Almaty, Kazakhstan. Shihezi, Xinjiang, China - CDI: 7; Urumqi, Xinjiang, China - CDI: 3; Almaty, Almaty, Kazakhstan - CDI: 2 (reference #13456)
135,000,000 USD in damages. (reference #1250, #13215)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 22, 1906, Xinjiang Province, China
- September 25, 1863, Xinjiang, China
- March 9, 1944, Xinjiang Province, China
- February 13, 2003, Urumqi, N. Xinjiang, China
- February 22, 2015, Shawan, Xinjiang Province, China
- November 13, 1965, Xinjiang Province, China
- June 29, 2012, Xinjiang Province, China
- June 8, 2011, Dabancheng, Xinjiang Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 2016The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2016Recent 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 10380.