The Xingtai earthquake (Chinese: 邢台大地震; pinyin: Xíngtái Dà Dìzhèn) was a sequence of major earthquakes that took place between March 8 and March 29, 1966, in the area administered by the prefecture-level city of Xingtai in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China.
 | |
| UTC time | 1966-03-22 08:19:36 |
|---|---|
| ISC event | 849480 |
| USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
| Local date | March 22, 1966 |
| Local time | 16:19:36 |
| Magnitude | 6.8 Mw (strongest quake) |
| Depth | 20 km |
| Epicenter | 37°04′N 114°29′E / 37.067°N 114.483°E |
| Areas affected | People's Republic of China |
| Max. intensity | MMI X (Extreme)[1] |
| Casualties | 8,064 dead, 38,000 injured |
The first earthquake with magnitude 6.0 on the moment magnitude scale and epicenter in Longyao County occurred in the early morning of March 8, 1966. It was followed by a sequence of five earthquakes above magnitude 6 that lasted until March 29, 1966. The strongest of these quakes had a magnitude of 6.8 and took place in the southeastern part of Ningjin County on March 22.[2] The earthquake damage included 8,064 dead, 38,000 injured and more than 5 million destroyed houses.[3]
Earthquakes
| Date (YYYY-MM-DD) | Time (UTC) | Latitude | Longitude | Depth | Magnitude | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966-03-07 | 21:29:19 | 37.156° N | 114.875° E | 20 km (12 mi) | 6.5 (Mw ) | [4] |
| 1966-03-22 | 08:11:37 | 37.535° N | 115.039° E | 20 km (12 mi) | 6.2 (Mw ) | [5] |
| 1966-03-22 | 08:19:36 | 37.545° N | 115.061° E | 20 km (12 mi) | 6.8 (Mw ) | [6] |
| 1966-03-26 | 15:19:04 | 37.714° N | 115.275° E | 20 km (12 mi) | 6.0 (Mw ) | [7] |
| 1966-03-29 | 12:00:00 | 37.464° N | 115.127° E | 20 km (12 mi) | 6.0 (Mw ) | [8] |