200,000 deaths.
One of the world's most destructive earthquakes.
Total destruction (XII - the maximum
intensity on the Mercalli scale)
in the
Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area.
Over 73,000 people were killed in
Haiyuan County. A landslide buried the
village of Sujiahe in Xiji County.
More than 30,000 people were killed in
Guyuan County. Nearly all the houses
collapsed in the cities of Longde and
Huining. Damage (VI-X) occurred in 7
provinces and regions, including the
major cities of Lanzhou, Taiyuan,
Xi'an, Xining and Yinchuan. It was
felt from the Yellow Sea to Qinghai
(Tsinghai) Province and from Nei Mongol
(Inner Mongolia) south to central
Sichuan (Szechwan) Province. About 200
km (125 mi) of surface faulting was
seen from Lijunbu through Ganyanchi to
Jingtai. There were large numbers of
landslides and ground cracks throughout
the epicentral area. Some rivers were
dammed, others changed course. Seiches
from this earthquake were observed in 2
lakes and 3 fjords in western Norway.
Although usually called the Kansu
(now Gansu) earthquake by Western
sources, the epicenter and highest
intensities are clearly within Ningxia
Autonomous Region.
