The 2005 Ruichang earthquake occurred at on 26 November in
Ruichang
Ruichang () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang, in the north of Jiangxi province, along the Yangtze River, bordering Hubei province to the north.
Ruichang suffered deaths and extensive damage from the 2005 Ruichang earthqua ...
,
Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The United States Geological Survey reported the event's
moment magnitude
The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...
as 5.2. At least fourteen people died, including five in Ruichang, seven in neighboring
Jiujiang
Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...
, and two across the river in
Wuxue
Wuxue (), formerly Guangji County (; Postal Romanization: Kwangtsi), is a county-level city on the north shore of the Yangtze River in eastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Wuxue falls under the administration of the prefecture-level ...
,
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
. At least 370 people were injured, including twenty seriously so. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed and thousands damaged. Residents temporarily fled homes, businesses, and even hospitals for fear of aftershocks. Local temperatures were mild at the time, around 10 °C. Shockwaves were felt as far away as
Shangrao
Shangrao () is a medium-sized prefecture-level city located in the northeast of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. The city borders the province of Anhui to the north, the province of Zhejiang to the east, and the province of Fujian to t ...
,
Changsha
Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...
, and
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...
.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in 2005
This is a list of earthquakes in 2005. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they resulted in significant damage or casualties, or were notable for some other reason. All dates are listed according to UTC time. To prevent ...
*
List of earthquakes in China
This is a List of earthquakes in China, part of the series of lists of disasters in China. China has been the location of some of the most deadly earthquakes in history. The deadliest was the 1976 Tangshan earthquake with 300,000+ deaths. Earthq ...
External links
Half a million flee homes after Chinese earthquake– ''The Guardian''
Earthquake strikes central China – ''BBC News''
– ''The Hindu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:2005 Ruichang Earthquake
2005 Ruichang
Ruichang
Ruichang () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang, in the north of Jiangxi province, along the Yangtze River, bordering Hubei province to the north.
Ruichang suffered deaths and extensive damage from the 2005 Ruichang earthqua ...
Ruichang
Ruichang () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang, in the north of Jiangxi province, along the Yangtze River, bordering Hubei province to the north.
Ruichang suffered deaths and extensive damage from the 2005 Ruichang earthqua ...
History of Jiangxi