High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1970 Tonghai earthquake occurred on 4 January 1970 in Tonghai, China. The rupture originated on the local Yunnan Province’s Red River fault, which had not experienced an earthquake above magnitude 7 since 1700. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 and killed at least 15,000 people, making it one of the deadliest in the history of China. The tremor caused between US$5 to $25 million in damage, felt over an area of 8,781 km (5,456 mi). In Hanoi, North Vietnam, almost 483 km (300 mi) from the epicenter, victims left their homes as the rupture rumbled through the city.