Shensi Province Earthquake

In the morning of 23 January 1556, the Chinese province of Shensi (today Shaanxi) was hit by a strong earthquake. An area of 840 square kilometers was devastated, and in some parts of the province, up to sixty percent of the population perished. Many of the region’s residents still lived in yaedongs, little caves in loose sediment, and many collapsed during the earthquake, burying the residents beneath them. With a human death toll estimated at 830,000, the earthquake is considered the deadliest in history.