Misfortunate Monday: The Shaanxi Earthquake of 1556

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this massive, confusing world we all call home! Today on Misfortunate Monday, we'll be discussing the Shaanxi Earthquake of 1556, considered the deadliest natural disaster in history. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's dive straight into it!

     On January 13th, 1556, the Shaanxi Earthquake hit China and killed 830,000 people, which is astronomical compared to other disasters, which rarely break quintuple digits. Death tolls are often imprecise prior to the twentieth, but this disaster is considered the deadliest of all, even if the death toll is imprecise.

     The quake struck in the late evening, with aftershocks lasting through the following morning. Later scientific investigation would reveal that the magnitude was around 8.0 - 8.3, which is not even close to the modern record, which is a 9.5 on the Richter Scale. The reason the quake killed so many was that the epicenter was in an urban area with many poorly-built buildings, resulting in the massive amount of deaths.

     Fun Facts:

• The two provinces, Shaanxi and Shanxi, had their populations reduced by 60% because of the earthquake.
• The quake only lasted for a few seconds, but it leveled mountains, altered the course of rivers, and ignited fires that burned for days.
• Ancient records used vivid details to describe the earthquake, which is unusual for the time.

     The Shaanxi Earthquake of 1556:

     

     Sources: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/deadliest-earthquake-in-history-rocks-china

     https://www.britannica.com/event/Shaanxi-province-earthquake-of-1556