Earthquakes near Lincang through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 5 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Lincang, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 3 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.7 on November 6, 1988 (145 km NW of Jinghong, China).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Lincang in the last 30 days.
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 738 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 8 here, back to 1770. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 833 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.6 on December 6, 2014 (Yunnan Province: Yongping). NOAA’s record here begins on September 26, 1770 with an earthquake (Yunnan Province). It grows thinner going back: 7 of the 8 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of Lincang. It reached 30 m, on July 20, 2009.
The events
- December 6, 2014Earthquake · M 5.6Yunnan Province: Yongping · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- July 20, 2009Tsunami · 30 m highXiaowan Reservoir, Yunnan ProvinceNOAA NCEI
- November 6, 1988Earthquake · M 7.7145 km NW of Jinghong, China · 738 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 22, 1923Earthquake · M 7.399 km E of Lashio, MyanmarUSGS
- September 26, 1770Earthquake · M 5.5 (est.)Yunnan ProvinceNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Lincang when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history
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