Did a shower of meteorites kill 10,000 people at Qingyang, China, in 1490?
Often called the deadliest meteorite fall in history. The Ming History (1739) says only: 'Hongzhi 3rd year, 3rd month [21 March to 19 April 1490], at Qingyang it rained stones beyond counting, of all sizes; the largest like goose eggs, the smallest like foxnut seeds', filed under falling stones, with no deaths. Later private books say the stones weighed kilograms and killed 'more than 10,000' or 'several tens of thousands', and that the whole town fled. No stones survive. Yau, Weissman and Yeomans (1994) found the toll implausible and raised both a Tunguska-like burst and hail.
Tests we ran on this
- No chance number How often did north-west China get hail by the 3rd lunar month? Rarely: 1 of 14 dated north-west hailstorms. (decided before looking, 2026-10-26) · scoreboard
How it connects
This mystery has this clue
The court's daily record for 1490 has no stone fall and no mass deaths at Qingyang, though it has four of the Ming History's other five portents of that year
This mystery has this clue
Ming History records: hail in the north-west falls mostly in the 4th to 7th months (1 of 14 dated storms came by the 3rd month); hail sizes 'like goose eggs' are common; hail deaths up to about 1,000
This mystery has this hunch or step
The 10,000 deaths at Qingyang are a story added about a century later: the 1490 court record does not have the event at all
This mystery has this hunch or step
What fell at Qingyang: hail or a meteorite shower? Both fit the sizes; early-spring hail is uncommon there, and showers of countless meteorites are rare everywhere
This mystery has this clue
Ming History: 'at Qingyang it rained stones beyond counting... largest like goose eggs, smallest like foxnut seeds' (3rd month 1490), no deaths
This mystery has this clue
Shen Defu (about 1606): 'stones fell like rain, the large 4-5 hu, the small 2-3 hu; they struck dead several tens of thousands' (2nd month 1490), in a list of portents
This mystery has this hunch or step
Traced the Qingyang 1490 'meteorite deaths' to their sources