Yushu Earthquake

Date: April 14, 2010 • Location: Qamdo Shi, China

Nearly 2,700 people were killed in an earthquake registering 6.9 Mw in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China.

The 2010 Yushu earthquake struck on April 14 and registered a magnitude of 6.9 Mw or 7.1 Ms. It originated in Yushu, Qinghai, China, at 7:49 am local time. According to the Xinhua News Agency, 2,698 people were confirmed dead, 270 missing and 12,135 injured, 1,434 of them severely. The epicenter was located in Rima Village (日玛村/日麻村), Shanglaxiu Township (上拉秀乡) of Yushu County, in remote and rugged terrain, near the border of Sichuan and Tibet Autonomous Region, about 30 km from Gyêgu town or Jyekundo, the seat of Yushu County, and about 240 km from Qamdo. The epicenter was in a sparsely populated area on the Tibetan plateau that is regularly hit by earthquakes.