There were relatively few earthquake records before the Ming Dynasty (1368), and there were one or two earthquake records every year in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but since the 1920s, the number of earthquake records has increased dramatically.
On the one hand, due to the increasing scope of human activities, the geographical space of earthquake records in China is also expanding, and the vulnerability of earthquake carriers is also increasing; On the other hand, with the development of economy and the prosperity of science and technology, human beings observe and record earthquakes more frequently.
The earthquake that occurred on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month (1556 65438+1October 23rd) in the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, with its epicenter in Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province, was the largest earthquake with the largest number of deaths in China's previous history.
According to historical records, modern scientists speculate that the earthquake intensity is 8-8.3, and the intensity is 1 1 degree. The death toll of this earthquake was recorded as "more than 830,000 people" in Biography of Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty, and "more than 820,000 people" in the subsequent literature. At that time, the national population was about 63 million.
Because the earthquake happened in the middle of the night, when everyone was sleeping and most local residents lived in caves, 60% of people in Fiona Fang, 2000 miles away, died. In the meantime, the families of 1 19 people living under the same roof were all killed in the earthquake ~