April 1, 2020 Earthquake: Qinghai Province, China
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Qinghai Province, China on April 1, 2020 at 12:23:27 UTC, 10 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
- April 1, 2020
- Time
- 12:23:27 UTC
- Place
- Qinghai Province, China
- Magnitude
- 5.4 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 10 km (6 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 33.127° N, 98.909° E
- Country
- China
- Region
- East Asia
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
The toll
- Damage
- $11.3 million
- Houses damaged
- 790
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.
Some houses damaged in Serxu.
From the USGS event page for us70008kd8. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.4 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.08 · 15 stations |
| 5.61 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.5 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Over 4,000 people have been affected in Shiqu County in southwest China's Sichuan Province as a 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit the area on Wednesday, local authorities said Thursday.The earthquake caused damage to the houses of over 790 local households in 84 villages. The economic losses were estimated at 79.83 million yuan (11.28 million U.S. dollars), local publicity department said. (reference #12688)
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.
- #12688 Xinhua News Agency (2020). Over 4,000 people affected by earthquake in SW China's Sichuan. Published 02 April 2020. Link
- #13456 U.S. Geological Survey (2017 to present). Earthquake Hazards Program, Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) Comprehensive Catalog of Earthquake Events and Products.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 2020The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2020Recent 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 10488. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event us70008kd8, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.