1679 Sanhe–Pinggu earthquake

Magnitude 8 earthquake in Northern China 1679 Sanhe-Pinggu earthquake 三河—平谷地震 yes 1679 9 2 China 8.0 w y 19 km mi 40 00 N 116 59 E title, inline (Sanhe, Langfang Prefecture, Hebei) China X 45,500 (estimate) The 1679 Sanhe-Pinggu earthquake (三河—平谷地震 Sānhé—Pínggǔ dìzhèn) was a major quake that struck the Zhili (Greater Beijing) region in Qing China on the morning of September 2, 1679.National Physical Atlas of China 1999 China Cartographic Publishing House Beijing, China 978-7503120404 It is the largest recorded surface rupture event to have occurred in the North China Plain. The epicenter was located approximately 50 km mi east of the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Earthquake The earthquake struck sometime between 9 am and 11 am on Saturday, September 2, 1679, and had its epicenter in Sanhe, modern day Hebei Province. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.0 w y and ruptured along most of the Xiadian Fault's length.Grossi Patricia The 1679 Sanhe-Pinggu Earthquake: Implications for the Modern-day Beijing Region http://forms2.rms.com/rs/729-DJX-565/images/eq_1679_sanhe_pinggu_eq.pdf Risk Management Solutions, Inc. 22 August 2017 The strike-slip earthquake was located at a depth of 19 km mi and was the largest known earthquake to have occurred in the North China Plain.Wang Xiaoshan Feng Xiangdong Xu Xiwei Diao Guiling Wan Yongge Wang Libin Ma Guangqing Fault plane parameters of Sanhe-Pinggu M8 earthquake in 1679 determined using present-day small earthquakes Earthquake Science 2014 27 6 607–614 10.1007/s11589-014-0099-3 2014EaSci..27..607W free Impact The 1679 earthquake was most devastating for the towns of Sanhe and Pinggu, east of Beijing. In these two towns, intensity is estimated to have reached X (extreme) while in Beijing the intensity reached VIII (severe). Sanhe was virtually destroyed while in Pinggu only between 30 and 40% households survived. Many buildings and structures in Beijing were also damaged or destroyed. The Qing dynasty White Pagoda in Beihai Park and Desheng Gate were both destroyed. The Kangxi Emperor survived the quake, but many officials and citizens in Beijing were killed. While the total number of fatalities is unknown, it is estimated that upwards of 45,500 were killed by the quake. The earthquake was felt as far west as Gansu Province and as far northeast as Liaoning Province.Ruins of the Sanhe-Pinggu Earthquake (1679) http://www.kepu.net.cn/english/quake/ruins/rns07.html Science Museums of China Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences 22 August 2017 Future threat While the Xiadian Fault is still active and poses a potential threat to the Greater Beijing region, earthquakes of this magnitude are predicted to occur only every 6,500 years along the slow moving fault. Other similar faults, however, exist in the Beijing region and are not properly understood. On average, a major earthquake is predicted to occur in the North China Plain every 300 years, most recently with the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. A 2007 study by Risk Management Solutions found that an earthquake similar in size to the 1679 Sanhe-Pinggu event could have devastating effects and result in the deaths of between 35,000 and 75,000 people. In addition, economic impacts at that time were estimated to be 445 billion RMB (c. $57 billion). References Further reading Wang Z. Li Y. Wang W. Zhang W. Zhang Z. Revisiting Paleoearthquakes with Numerical Modeling: A Case Study of the 1679 Sanhe–Pinggu Earthquake Seismological Research Letters 94 2A 2022 0895-0695 10.1785/0220220208 720–730 253472708 Category:Earthquakes in Beijing Category:Earthquakes in Hebei Category:1670s earthquakes Category:1679 disasters Category:17th century in Beijing Category:Disasters in the Qing dynasty Category:Langfang