Ruins of Hua County Earthquake (1556)

　　Date of earthquake：February 2, 1556
　　Epicenter：Hua County in Shanxi Province
　　Scale： (M) 8 1/4 

　　Details：
　　An earthquake happened in the intersecting parts of Shan'xi and Shanxi. The earth sound was like the rumbling of thunders. The plateau and the plain all had cracks. The directions of the roads were even changed. Trees fell upside down and the mountains were rocked in the bottom part. 

The hills and valleys had a lot of changes. Those rising became hills and those lowered down, became deep valleys. Within an area of 1000 kilometers, not many people survived. Fires were on for several days and the people lived in the open air. Many robberies and lootings happened. Numerous people died of the earthquake, the fire, the flood and robberies.

The Poem Tablet for Reconstruction of Pu Jiu Temple
　　"At the time of Jiajing of Ming Dynasty, an earthquake happened in Puzhou. The tower of Pujiu Temple was also destroyed. The Prefect in charge of Tongliang ordered the chief monk to reconstruct the temple.

　　"A serious earthquake happened in 1556 of Ming Dynasty... the sacred place became relics. Now Buddha show His miracle again and the temple was reconstructed. Aftershocks occurred 3 to 5 times each month for half a year and the shocks did not finish for three years. But it became ligher, and stopped to occur 5 years after"

　　More than 97 counties and states in Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui suffered the earthquake.