June 1, 70 BC Earthquake: Shandong Province, China

Name: June 1, 70 BC Earthquake: Shandong Province, China
Location: Shandong Province, China

June 1, 70 BC · M7 · 6,000 deaths

A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Shandong Province, China on June 1, 70 BC. It killed 6,000 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: June 1, 70 BC
Place: Shandong Province, China
Magnitude: 7 (Ms)
Intensity: IX, violent shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 36.300° N, 119.000° E
Country: China
Region: East Asia

The toll

Deaths: 6,000

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.

June 1, 70 B.C., In and around Zhucheng and Changle,

Shandong Province, 36.3 N, 119 E, magnitude 7, intensity IX. Temples and city walls in Langya and Beihai Prefectures

were demolished, landslides and out-pouring ground water caused a death toll of more than 6,000 people. All the 49 prefectures east of Henan shook. Note: At that time, Yingling (the seat oflocal government of Beihai Prefecture) was to the southeast of the present-day Changle County; that of Langya Prefecture at Zhucheng County. (reference #3939)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#3939 Gu Gongxu, Zhou Wenfu, and Wang Renlong (eds.) (1989). Catalogue of Chinese Earthquakes (1831 B.C. - 1969 A.D.). Science Press, Beijing, China; English translation by Li Zengquan et al. provided through UNESCO, 872 pages.
#1048 Academia Sinica (1970). Catalog of Chinese Earthquakes; vol. I (1177 BC to 1900 AD) and vol. II (1901 to 1949). Institute of Geophysics, Peking, China. [in Chinese]

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 70 BC 99 to 1 BC Recent earthquakes near here This 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 32.