1996 Lijiang earthquake

The 1996 Lijiang earthquake, which occurred at 7:14 PM on 3 February, 1996 near Lijiang City, Yunnan in southwestern China, measured 7.0 on the Richter scale.

200 people died in the earthquake and 14,000 were injured, 3,800 of them seriously. 186,000 houses collapsed, and another 300,000 people were forced out of their damaged homes.

184 aftershocks occurred in the 26 hours following the earthquake, including 18 which measured between 4.0 and 4.8 on the Richter scale.

In addition to damage to structures from the earthquake itself, it triggered more than 200 landslides in a 12,000 km² area. Many further landslides occurred in the months afterwards, as monsoon rains swept away debris already loosened by the earthquake, and as late as 1999, scientists warned that widespread ground fracturing caused through much of the area due to the earthquake might lead to further landsliding in the event of heavy rain.

In the aftermath, many high-rise buildings in the area were torn down and reconstructed as traditional single-family dwellings; along with earthquake reconstruction assistance from the provincial government and the World Bank, which was used to restore many traditional streets, bridges, and canals, this played a major role in Lijiang's efforts to achieve designation by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.