5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes seismically active North Central China, over 100 deaths reported

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck north-central China – a seismically active region — killing over 100 people on December 18, 2023. 

The earthquake, which occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres, formed in an intraplate region, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Intraplate earthquakes are rare and happen far from the boundaries between plates. More than 98 per cent of earthquakes strike plate boundaries.

Government agency China Earthquake Administration reported a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Jishishan county, Linxia prefecture, Gansu province on its website. “So far, the earthquake has caused 100 deaths in Gansu and 11 deaths in Qinghai and damaged some water, electricity, transportation, communications and other infrastructure,” it said. 

The quake occurred on the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, the USGS reported. The area sits in north of the Himalayas and was formed due to the ongoing collision between the India and Eurasia plates. The collision began 50 million years ago, resulting in the formation of the Himalayan Mountain range and Tibetan Plateau and continues even today.

“This whole region is deforming due to the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates,” Judith Hubbard, visiting assistant professor at Cornell University, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

This is a seismically active region, with many known faults and recorded earthquakes, Hubbard added.

Since 1900, 23 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.5 or higher have occurred within 250 km of the region. The largest, per USGS, was a 7.7 magnitude  earthquake in May 1927, which led to roughly 40,000 deaths. 

More than 100 large (magnitude greater than 6) earthquakes have occurred in North China since 23 BC. The 1556 Huaxian earthquake of magnitude 8.3 was the deadliest one in human history, with a death toll of 830,000, according to the book Intraplate Earthquakes in North China published in 2014.

“Earthquake-related losses in China are common, even for moderate-magnitude earthquakes, owing to the proximity of large population centres to shaking, the prevalence of structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, and the occurrence of landslides in steep topography,” the USGS said.

The USGS issued a yellow alert for fatalities for the December 18 event, where the estimated fatalities range from 1-99.

As for economic losses, the USGS issued a red alert as it expects extensive damage. Estimated economic losses are less than a per cent of China’s gross domestic product, it added.

At least 158,000 residents may have felt strong shaking and another 117,000 people likely felt very strong shaking.

“Buildings here are vulnerable to earthquake shaking,” Wendy Bohon, a geologist who studies earthquakes, wrote on X. The predominant vulnerable building types are adobe block and unreinforced brick with mud construction.

Earlier this year, on January 25, an earthquake of 5.5 magnitude at a depth of 10 km was recorded in Luding County (southeastern Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, southern China). Some 6,000 people were exposed to shaking. The same region was jolted by a 6.6 magnitude quake in September 2022, resulting in more than 90 fatalities.

Meanwhile, India also experienced 10 earthquakes on December 18 and 19, six of which occurred in Kishtwar, a town in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the National Centre for Seismology. The magnitudes ranged between 2.9 and 4.8.

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