Historical excavations show that earthquakes of a magnitude of over 7.0 struck several times in ancient China, each time resulting in the death of over 100,000 people.
相對的，我國黃土高原一帶資源匱乏，自古居民即挖山壁成窖洞居住，有史以來在此發生的幾次七級以上地震，死傷都超過十萬。