Abstract A MS6.4 earthquake occurred at Menyuan county, Qinghai province, on 21 January, 2016. The system issued an earthquake alarm and recorded the destructive earthquake data. This paper computes peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV) and instrumental seismic intensity of stations along the railway. The results show that the instrumental seismic intensity is a more robust alarm parameter than PGA, because it is less affected by site conditions. Then, the response spectra ratios of the near and far away high-speed railway observation points are calculated to interpret PGA changes on the local complex ground conditions. Finally, by comparing station computing response spectrum and high-speed railway bridge design response spectrum, it is possible to estimate earthquake damage of the high-speed railway bridge near the station.