1918 Shantou earthquake


The 1918 Shantou earthquake occurred in Shantou, Guangdong, Republic of China. It also caused some damage in what was then British Hong Kong.

Shantou

The quake was centred near Shantou, about 300 km northeast of the territory of Hong Kong. The quake caused minor damage and cracks to buildings in the territory.

British Hong Kong

It is also the only earthquake to have caused any damage to Hong Kong. It was estimated to reach intensity VII on the Modified Mercalli Scale. As the Royal Observatory, Hong Kong did not start operating long-period seismographs until 1921 to detect distant earthquakes. According to the , the quake threw the whole Central District into a state of panic. The shock lasted about half a minute and was felt all over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.