March 8, 788 Earthquake: Ankang, Fangxian, Shaanxi Province, China
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Ankang, Fangxian, Shaanxi Province, China on March 8, 788.
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
- March 8, 788
- Place
- Ankang, Fangxian, Shaanxi Province, China
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 32.500° N, 109.400° E
- Country
- China
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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.
March 8, 788, SE of Ankang, Shaanxi Province, 32.5 N, 109.4 E, magnitude 6.5, intensity VIII.
Ankang and Fangxian were particularly badly hit. Most houses were destroyed, people stayed in the open. Cracks appeared in the mountains, and rivers overflowed the banks. Shock also struck Xi'an. Shocks already occurred on the 6 and 7 of that month.
Note: No separate record for Ankang and Fangxian. The meizoseismic region was probably located at the boundary of the two counties. Since the region lying E of Pingli of Ankang Prefecture was part of Fangxian, the epicenter is
supposed to be near Ankang.
(above from reference #3939)
Reference #1052 lists March 8, 788, Shensi Province, 32.5 N, 109.2 E, magnitude 6.5, intensity VIII.
Reference #1055 lists Feb 13 to June 28, 788, the whole of China. The most damage was done at Kin in (Hunan), Fang in Yunyang Fu (Hupeh) and the Imperial City Hsian in (Shensi) was destroyed. Intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 788The 700sRecent 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 190.