Longmenshan Fault Zone
Sichuan, China · continental collision · 1676.3 km of mapped active fault in 11 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.98 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 359 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 11.97 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 1676.3 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 11 |
| Tectonic setting | continental collision |
| Slip types | Reverse, Reverse-Dextral |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 29.45 to 33.84 latitude, 101.21 to 106.05 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 17 significant earthquakes attributed to this system since 1327.
The deadliest was the 12 May 2008 magnitude 7.9 earthquake (China: Sichuan Province), which killed 87,652 people.
The most recent entry is the 1 June 2022 magnitude 5.8 earthquake (China: Sichuan Province), which killed 4 people.
Across the entries that record a death toll, 92,696 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 May 2008 | magnitude 7.9 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 87,652 dead, 5,360,000 homes destroyed, $86,000 million damage |
| 24 March 1923 | magnitude 7.3 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 4,800 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 20 April 2013 | magnitude 6.6 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province: Longmen | 196 dead, $6,800 million damage |
| 8 August 2017 | magnitude 6.5 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province: Aba | 29 dead, 100 homes destroyed, $500 million damage |
| 25 May 2008 | magnitude 6.0 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 8 dead, 400,000 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 5 August 2008 | magnitude 6.0 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 4 dead, damage under $1 million |
| 1 June 2022 | magnitude 5.8 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 4 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 9 December 2008 | magnitude 4.5 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 2 dead |
| 24 July 2008 | magnitude 5.6 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 1 dead, 1,200 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 9 November 1960 | magnitude 6.8 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | damage $5 to 25 million |
| 16 January 1630 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | damage under $1 million |
| 7 February 1958 | magnitude 6.2 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | damage under $1 million |
| 1 August 2008 | magnitude 5.7 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 540 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 27 May 2008 | magnitude 5.7 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 20,000 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 24 January 1967 | magnitude 5.5 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | 417 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 2 May 1748 | magnitude 5.5 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | damage $1 to 5 million |
| September 1327 | magnitude 4.8 earthquake | China: Sichuan Province | - |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.