May 21, 512 Earthquake: Yingxian, Shaanxi Province, China
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Yingxian, Shaanxi Province, China on May 21, 512. It killed 5,130 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
- May 21, 512
- Place
- Yingxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 7.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 39.400° N, 113.300° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 5,130
- Injuries
- 2,720
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
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.
May 21, 512, Yingxian, Shanxi Province, 39.4 N, 113.3 E, magnitude 7.5, intensity X.
An earthquake occurred at Fanshi (the old county was situated in the NE of Yingxian), Shanyin, Linqiu, Xiurong (NW of Xinxian) and Yanmen (present-day Daixian). The ground fissured, rocks cascaded down the mountains, and water gushed out. 5,130 people were killed, 2,720 injured. More than 3,000 domestic animals were killed or injured.
This earthquake also occurred in 6 prefectures: Shuo
(the present-day Shuoxian), Bing (the present-day
Taiyuan), Xiang (the present-day Anyany, Henan
Province), Ying (the present-day Hejian, Hebei
(Province), Ji (the present-day Jixian, Hebei Province) and Ding (the present-day Dingxian, Hebei
Province). Shocks also struck Fucheng (SW of
the present-day Guoyang Town) for more than
one year. The shock also occurred at Luoyang.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 9, 1038, Dingxiang, Xinxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- June 28, 1626, Shanxi Province, China
- May 3, 1305, Huairen, Datong, Shanxi Province, China
- November 22, 1683, Shanxi Province, China
- October 6, 1628, Hebei Province, China
- October 18, 1989, Shanxi and Hebei Provinces, Datong, China
- September 22, 1898, Shanxi Province, China
- April 1022, Datong, Shaanxi Province, China
- October 8, 1952, Shanxi Province, China
- March 25, 1991, NE, Datong, China
- November 1, 1999, Northeastern, Shanxi, China
- 1664, Shanxi Province, China
- January 26, 1911, Hebei Province, China
- June 10, 1957, Shanxi Province, China
- June 23, 1883, Shanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 512The 500sRecent 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 125.