September 12, 649 Earthquake: Linfen, Shaanxi Province, China
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Linfen, Shaanxi Province, China on September 12, 649. It killed 50 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 12, 649
- Place
- Linfen, Shaanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.100° N, 111.500° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Deaths
- 50
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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 12, 649, in and around Linfen, Shanxi Province, 36.1 N, 111.5, magnitude 5.5, intensity VII.
A shock struck Hedong, especially Jinzhou Prefecture;
houses were destroyed, and more than 50 persons.
(or 5,000 according to another source) were killed.
The earthquake also struck Yongji. Another shock
occurred on September 14.
Note: At that time, the seat of local government of
Jinzhou Prefecture was located at the present-day
Linfen.
(above from reference #3939)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 18, 1695, Linfen, Shanxi Province, China
- October 23, 1815, Shanxi Province, China
- December 4, 1209, Fushan, Shaanxi Province, China
- January 19, 1501, Chaoyi, Shaanxi Province, China
- August 25, 1291, Shaanxi Province, China
- March 23, 1827, Shanxi Province, China
- April 30, 1000, Shaanxi Province, China
- April 17, 1891, Shanxi Province, China
- August 19, 820, Fan Chong, Shaanxi Province, China
- September 17, 1303, Shanxi Province, China
- December 18, 1967, Shanxi Province, China
- December 23, 1862, Shanxi Province, China
- August 10, 1959, Shaanxi Province, China
- May 20, 1618, Shanxi Province, China
- September 1, 1964, Shanxi Province, China
More
Significant earthquakes of 649The 600sRecent 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 158.