Question: What was biggest earthquake in the Gobi Desert ?

Asked by teodoratudoran28 to Andi on 6 Mar 2015.

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  1. Photo: Andreas RudersdorfAndreas Rudersdorf
    answered on 6 Mar 2015:

    Hi there!

    the biggest earthquake of a region is quite hard to tell, because we have to rely on our seismometer readings or historical records. We have seismometers since about 100 years, and maybe since about 60 to 70 years in Mongolia and China. History often tells us about large earthquakes, for example in Greece a lot is known for hundreds and thousands of years. But the Gobi Desert is still a desert, so not too many people live there and write things down.

    But to cut a long story short: there was a pretty big earthquake in the Gobi-Altai mountains in 1957. It was felt all over the Gobi Desert and wide regions in China. The earthquake had a magnitude of 8.1 and the ground ruptured over 250 km!

    All the best,
    Andi

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