An Earthquake in 1611

The record

三十九年辛亥，十月既望，地震。

Translated: In the thirty-ninth year, xinhai, on the day after the full moon of the tenth month, there was an earthquake.

Date

The earthquake belongs to 1611, the thirty-ninth year of the Wanli era, on the day after the full moon of the tenth month. "After the full moon" is an old way of counting days in the lunar month, meaning the day following the full moon, that is, about the sixteenth day of the tenth month.

Effects

The gazetteer gives this one line only. It records neither the magnitude, the epicentre nor the duration, and says nothing of collapsed houses or of people and livestock killed. This entry does not add anything the gazetteer does not contain.

Uncertainties

The earthquake stands as a single isolated entry in the gazetteer. The text records no relief or rebuilding after it and gives no indication of how far the shaking was felt, so its effects cannot be assessed. The source consulted here also does not say whether this line was taken over from an earlier gazetteer, and the compilers' reasons for including it cannot be recovered.