The
1556 Shaanxi earthquake or
Jiajing earthquake was a catastrophic earthquake and is also the deadliest earthquake on record, killing approximately 830,000 people. It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in
Shaanxi, during the
Ming Dynasty. More than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi,
Shanxi,
Henan,
Gansu,
Hebei,
Shandong,
Hubei,
Hunan,
Jiangsu and
Anhui were affected. An area was destroyed, and in some counties as much as 60% of the population was killed. Most of the population in the area at the time lived in
yaodongs, artificial caves in
loess cliffs, many of which collapsed with catastrophic loss of life.