M5.0 earthquake - 279 km SSE of Dunhuang, China

What happened

A magnitude 5 earthquake struck 279 km SSE of Dunhuang, China on 16 Sept 2026, 05:52 UTC at a depth of 10 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Guōlèmùdé, about 156 km away in Qinghai, China.