Type of Event
The type of event was a deadly earthquake, the deadliest. The event did not take place on a plate boundary, but in a fault. This fault is named Weihe Basin and is much like the New Madrid Fault zone. ( The New Madrid Seismic Zone, sometimes called the New Madrid Fault line, is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intrplate earthquakes, earthquakes within a tectonic plate.) A fault is a deformation or a crack in the earth's crust. there are three different types of faults those being a normal dip slip fault, a reverse dip slip fault, and a transform fault. the fault in which Shaanxi is located is a normal dip slip fault. These types of faults occur in areas where rocks are pulling apart. Shaanxi China is located on top of a dip slip fault.
Date
The date at which this this event occured was January 23, 1556
Location
This event occured in Shaanxi China, but it is also reffered to as the Jiajing great earthquake because it is located in what sometimes is called the Jiajing region.
Magnitude of event
The magnitude of the Shaanxi is 8.0. More than 830,000 people were killed. Damage extended as far aways as Taiyuan, teh capital of Shaanxi (formerly Shansi) and about 270 miles (430 km) notheast of the epicenter. There are felt reports as far away as Liuyang in Hunan, more than 500 miles ( 800 km) away. This earthquake was felt in all or parts of 9 provinces; Anhui, Gangsu, Hubei, Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shandong and Shanxi.