Shaanxi earthquake in 1556
The earthquake in Shaanxi ( Chinese 华县 大 地震 , Pinyin Huà xiàn dà dìzhèn ) or Jiajing earthquake ( 嘉靖 大 地震 , Jiājìng dà dìzhèn ) was the most momentous earthquake in China to date , but not the most momentous natural disaster . It happened on January 23, 1556 (according to other sources on February 2, 1556) in the Chinese province of Shaanxi and claimed an estimated 830,000 lives.
The earthquake
Current estimates based on geological studies assume an earthquake strength of a good 8¼ on the moment magnitude scale . The epicenter of the quake was in Hua County, not far from Hua Shan . For the next six months, three to five stronger aftershocks occurred every month . There were regular aftershocks up to three years after the quake, before their occurrence subsided completely after five years.
Damage
A total of more than 97 counties in what is now Shaanxi , Shanxi , Henan , Hubei , Gansu , Hebei , Shandong , Anhui , Hunan and Jiangsu provinces were affected by the tremors. Heavy devastation occurred over an area of approximately 1,000 km².
In some districts over 60% of the population died. This is due to the fact that at that time a large part of the population lived in artificial caves called Yaodong . Many of these caves built in the mountain slopes of loess collapsed in the course of the earthquake.
Near Xi'an , the earthquake damaged many of the steles in the Xi'an Forest of Steles . Of the total of 114 steles, 40 broke. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda also sank from 45 m in height to 43.5 m.
Contemporary history
At the time of the earthquake governed emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty , the Chinese Empire .
In a Chinese chronicle the event was described as follows:
- In the winter of 1556, there was an earthquake in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. Various calamities have struck the Hua District. Mountains and rivers changed their position and course, and roads were destroyed in the process. In some places the ground either arched to form new hills or sagged to create valleys. In other areas, creeks suddenly burst from the ground or it broke up and formed new ravines. Huts, public buildings, temples and city walls collapsed suddenly.
Scholar Qin Keda was an earthquake survivor. He not only wrote down its course, but also drew lessons from the event: “At the beginning of the earthquake, people should not have left their homes immediately, but should have crouched and waited for their happiness. Even if the nest is destroyed, a few of the eggs inside can remain undamaged. "
literature
Andrea Janku: Three lifelong friends / given up in the sand in one night. The earthquake of 1556 in Shaanxi (China), in: Gerrit Jasper Schenk (Hrsg.): Katastrophen. From the fall of Pompeii to climate change, Ostfildern 2009, pp. 81–92.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Comments for the Significant Earthquake. National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder (Colorado) (English)
- ↑ USGS rectangular area search for earthquakes ( Memento of the original from June 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Significant Worldwide Earthquakes (3150 BC - 1994 AD), parameters: 18 - 55 n. Br., 75 - 140 ö.L.
Web links
- The Science Museum of China on ruins due to the quake
- The Science Museum of China on the writings of the scholar Qin Keda (Eng.)
Coordinates: 34 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ N , 109 ° 42 ′ 0 ″ E