The 1290 Chihli earthquake occurred on 27 September with an epicenter

Epicenter

The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates...

 near Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...

. The earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

 had an estimated magnitude

Surface wave magnitude

The surface wave magnitude scale is one of the magnitude scales used in seismology to describe the size of an earthquake. It is based on measurements in Rayleigh surface waves that travel primarily along the uppermost layers of the earth...

 of 6.8 and a maximum felt intensity of IX (violent) on the mercalli intensity scale

Mercalli intensity scale

The Mercalli intensity scale is a seismic scale used for measuring the intensity of an earthquake. It measures the effects of an earthquake, and is distinct from the moment magnitude M_w usually reported for an earthquake , which is a measure of the energy released...

. It is estimated that about 100,000 people were killed.

Damage

The earthquake destroyed 480 storehouses and countless houses in Ningcheng. Changping, Hejian

Hejian

Hejian is a county-level city in the Cangzhou prefecture, in Hebei province, China. In 2004, Hejian population was ca. 770.000 inhabitants and the city territory was...

, Renqiu

Renqiu

Renqiu is a city in Hebei, China. It is located northwest of Cangzhou, which administers it, and southwest of Tianjin. It is the location of Huabei oil field.-Administrative Divisions:Subdistricts:...

, Xiongxian

Xiong County

Xiong County is a county under the jurisdiction of Baoding prefecture-level city, Hebei, China.-Administrative Divisions:Towns:*Xiongzhou , Zangang , Daying Townships:...

, Baoding

Baoding

-Administrative divisions:Baoding prefecture-level city consists of 3 municipal districts, 4 county-level cities, 18 counties:-Demographics:The Baoding urban area has a population of around 1,006,000 . The population of the Baoding administrative area is 10,890,000. The considerable majority are...

, Yixian

Yi County, Hebei

Yi County is a county in Hebei province of China, administratively under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Baoding. It has an area of ??? km².-Administrative divisions:Towns:...

 and Baixiang were also affected. It severely damaged the Fengguo Temple

Fengguo Temple

Fengguo Temple is a Buddhist temple located in Yixian, Liaoning Province, China. The temple was first founded in 1020 during the Liao Dynasty , and grew quite large during the subsequent centuries. Today, only two halls, two gates, and a decorative arch survive. The most important surviving...

in Yixian.