September 294 Earthquake: Beijing, China
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Beijing, China in September 294. It killed 101 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
- September 294
- Place
- Beijing, China
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 40.300° N, 116.000° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 101
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.
September 294, In and around Juyong Pass, Beijing, 40.3 N, 116 E, magnitude 5.5, intensity VII.
In and around Shanggu, Shangyong and Juyong, fissures happened (about 120 m wide and 280 m long at Juyong), springs emerged, people were killed (some said the death toll was more than 100 persons). Shocks had occurred at Shanggu, Shangyong and Liaodong in that January.
Note: At that time, Shanggu Prefecture included Juyang (SE of the present-day Huailai County) and Juyong (E of the present-day Yanqing County), with the seat of local government located at Juyang. Situation has not yet been ascertained about Shangyong.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- July 27, 1976, Tangshan, NE, China
- 1057, Beijing, China
- September 2, 1679, Hebei Province, China
- August 1289, Beijing, China
- June 28, 1626, Shanxi Province, China
- September 30, 1730, Beijing, China
- January 10, 1998, Shangyi-Zhangbei, Hebei, Northeastern, China
- October 6, 1628, Hebei Province, China
- October 18, 1989, Shanxi and Hebei Provinces, Datong, China
- September 8, 1337, Huailai, Hebei, China
- July 12, 1720, Hebei Province, China
- January 29, 1484, Beijing, China
- December 31, 1956, Hebei Province, China
- February 3, 1658, Hebei Province, China
- March 1621, Hebei Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 294The 200sRecent earthquakes near here
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 74.