1920 Haiyuan earthquake

The 1920 Haiyuan earthquake (Chinese: 海原大地震; pinyin: Hǎiyuán dà dìzhèn) occurred on December 16 in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province, Republic of China at 19:05:53. It was also called the 1920 Gansu earthquake^[3] 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 (XII Extreme). About 258,707-273,407 died,^[2] making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in China and disasters in China by death toll.

1920 Haiyuan earthquake

UTC time	1920-12-16 12:05:55
ISC event	912687
USGS-ANSS	ComCat
Local date	December 16, 1920 (1920-12-16) (Gansu-Sichuan Time)
Local time	19:05
Magnitude	Mw 7.9
Epicenter	36.50°N 105.70°E / 36.50; 105.70
Fault	Haiyuan Fault
Max. intensity	MMI XII (Extreme)[1]
Landslides	>50,000[1]
Casualties	258,707~273,407[2]

Tectonic setting

Major left-lateral strike-slip structures occur in the Tibetan Plateau as a result of the India–Asia collision.^[4] These faults, including the Altyn Tagh, Haiyuan, Kunlun, Karakoram and Xianshuihe faults, accommodate crustal deformation within the Tibetan Plateau. One of these fault systems, the Haiyuan Fault, runs 1,000 km (620 mi) along the plateau's northeastern edge.^[5]

Earthquake

The earthquake hit at 19:05:53 Gansu-Sichuan time (12:05:53 UTC),^[6] reportedly 8.25 M_w^[7] or 7.8 M_L, and was followed by a series of aftershocks for three years. The often cited magnitude in scientific literature is M 8.5 which has been regarded as an overestimate due to the limited technological advancements and instrumentation during the period which the earthquake occurred. On the moment magnitude scale which measures an earthquake with respect to its physical parameters, it is estimated at M_w  7.9.^[8] The International Seismological Centre also catalogs the earthquake at M_w  7.9.^[9]

About 230 km (140 mi) of surface faulting was seen from Lijunbu through Ganyanchi to Jingtai. There were over 50,000 landslides in the epicentral area and ground cracking was widespread. Some rivers were dammed; others changed course.^[10] Seiches from this earthquake were observed in two lakes and three fjords in western Norway.^[3]

Field observations in the 1980s found 237 km (147 mi) of surface rupture along the Haiyuan Fault with a maximum horizontal offset of 6.5 m (21 ft) in the middle section of the rupture zone. The earthquake ruptured the section of the Haiyuan Fault between the Laohushan segment in the west and Liupanshan Thrust Fault to the east. The earthquake's epicenter is also likely near Haiyuan which is supported by the seismic intensity distribution.^[4]

Damage and aftermath

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.^[1] Nearly all the houses collapsed in the cities of Longde and Huining. Damage (VI–X) occurred in seven 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 Province.

Since 2003,^[11] Chinese seismologists have calculated 258,707~273,407 to be the empirical verifiable range of death toll.^[2] Older sources put the deaths to be 234,117^[12] or 235,502.^[13] Either way, it is one of the most fatal earthquakes in China, in turn making it one of the worst disasters in China by death toll.

Many more perished because of cold: frequent aftershocks caused the survivors to fear building anything other than temporary shelters, and a severe winter killed many who had lived through the original earthquake.^[14]

The Sufi Jahriyya Muslim Hui leader Ma Yuanzhang and his son died in the earthquake when the roof of the Mosque they were in collapsed in Zhangjiachuan.^[15][16] The Muslim General Ma Fuxiang was involved in relief efforts in Lanzhou during the earthquake.^[17][18][19]

See also

• List of disasters in China by death toll
• List of earthquakes in China
• List of earthquakes in 1920

References

1. Xu, Y.; Liu–Zeng, J.; Allen, M.B.; Zhang, W.; Du, P. (2020). "Landslides of the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake, northern China". Landslides. 18 (3): 935–953. doi:10.1007/s10346-020-01512-5. S2CID 221568806.
2. 张思源 (2013). "1920年海原大地震死亡人数考析". 西夏研究 (1): 119.
3. "Most Destructive Known Earthquakes on Record in the World". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
4. Ou, Q.; Kulikova, G.; Yu, J.; Elliott, A.; Parsons, B.; Walker, R. (6 Jul 2020). "Magnitude of the 1920 Haiyuan Earthquake Reestimated Using Seismological and Geomorphological Methods". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 125 (8). doi:10.1029/2019JB019244. ISSN 2169-9313.
5. Han, Longfei; Liu-Zeng, Jing; Yao, Wenqian; Shao, Yanxiu; Yuan, Zhaode; Wang, Yan (November 2021). "Coseismic slip gradient at the western terminus of the 1920 Haiyuan Mw 7.9 earthquake". Journal of Structural Geology. 152: 104442. doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2021.104442.
6. National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. "Significant earthquake Information". doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
7. "海原断裂带强震发生概率的评估方" (PDF). 地震学报: 1048,1050. 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-05-24. Retrieved 2021-05-24. 本文直接采用1920年海原地震的矩震级Ｗ8.25
8. Liu, Jing; Xu, Jing; Ou, Qi; Han, Longfei; Wang, Zijun; Shao, Zhigang; Zhang, Peizhen; Yao, Wenqian; Wang, Peng (2023). "Discussion on the overestimated magnitude of the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake". Acta Seismologica Sinica. 45 (4): 579–596. doi:10.11939/jass.20220051.
9. ISC (2022), ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1904–2018), Version 9.1, International Seismological Centre
10. Liu-Zeng, J.; Shao, Y.; Klinger, Y.; Xie, K.; Yuan, D.; Lei, Z. (2015). "Variability in magnitude of paleo-earthquakes revealed by trenching and historical records, along the Haiyuan fault". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 120: 8301–8333. Bibcode:2015JGRB..120.8304L. doi:10.1002/2015JB012163.
11. 刘百篪，张俊玲，吴建华，郭华，《1920年12月16日海原8.5级大地震的伤亡人口再评估》，《中国地震》.
12. 国家地震局兰州地震研究所，宁夏回族自治区地震队．一九二O年海原大地震．北京：地震出版社，1980. As cited in 张思源 (2013). "1920年海原大地震死亡人数考析". 西夏研究 (1): 119.
13. 楼宝棠，主编．中国古今地震灾情总汇[M]．北京：地震出版社，1996. As cited in 张思源 (2013). "1920年海原大地震死亡人数考析". 西夏研究 (1): 119.
14. Close, Upton, and Elsie McCormick. "Where the Mountains Walked". National Geographic 41.5 (1922): 445–464: 451.
15. Jonathan Neaman Lipman (1997). Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-295-97644-0.
16. Chinese Republican studies newsletter, Volumes 5-7. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Center for Asian Studies. 1979. p. 34.
17. "马福祥--"戎马书生" – 新华网甘肃频道". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
18. "缅怀中国近代史上的回族将领马福祥将军戎马一生". Archived from the original on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
19. "清末民国间爱国将领马福祥__中国甘肃网". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-10-30.

Further reading

• Xu, Xiurong; Zhang, Zhenguo; Hu, Feng; Chen, Xiaofei (2019), "Dynamic Rupture Simulations of the 1920 Ms 8.5 Haiyuan Earthquake in China", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 109 (5): 2009–2020, Bibcode:2019BuSSA.109.2009X, doi:10.1785/0120190061, S2CID 203134903

External links

• The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey.