Shaanxi Earthquake: 830,000 Die in History's Deadliest
The ground shook for what survivors described as the length of a meal, roughly two to three minutes, collapsing homes carved into the soft loess plateaus of China's Shaanxi province. The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake killed an estimated 830,000 people, a figure that remains the highest death toll of any earthquake in recorded history. The population density of the Wei River valley amplified the destruction: millions of people lived in yaodong, cave dwellings carved directly into the loess cliffs that collapsed instantly during the shaking. Aftershocks continued for six months. The Ming Dynasty official who surveyed the damage recommended that future residents avoid living on steep slopes and near rivers, advice that constitutes one of the earliest known examples of seismic building guidelines. The region's population took over a century to recover to pre-earthquake levels.
January 23, 1556
470 years ago
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China
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earthquake
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1556 Shaanxi earthquake
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Shaanxi
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Earthquake
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1556 Shaanxi earthquake
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Shaanxi
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Gansu
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1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes
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Ming dynasty
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China
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