Haiyuan Earthquake

Date: December 16, 1920 • Location: Zhongwei, China

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1920.

A magnitude-7.9 earthquake struck Haiyuan County, China, killing more than 250,000 people.

The 1920 Haiyuan earthquake occurred in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province, Republic of China at 19:05:53 (UTC+8) on 16 December 1920. It was also called the 1920 Gansu earthquake because Ningxia was a part of Gansu Province when the earthquake occurred. It caused destruction in the Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area and was assigned the maximum intensity on the Mercalli intensity scale. Estimates of the death toll range from 258,707 to 273,407, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in China and disasters in China by death toll.