The 1933 Diexi earthquake occurred over 80 yr ago in the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Little attention has been paid to the post-seismic ecological recovery process, largely due to the lack of suitable geological archives and indexes. We selected the Yanwan section, relatively stable wetlands near the epicenter to carry out detailed palynological analysis in order to document the post-seismic vegetation succession and ecological recovery processes. Based on robust 210Pb-137Cs age model, the earthquake event was constrained and characteristic pollen assemblages were found. The earthquake caused great damage to natural vegetation. Moreover, with increasing human activities, the degradation of vegetation seems irreversible. The data set includes 210Pb-137Cs age model for Yanwan section, topsoil pollen results along the Songpinggou River, and pollen percentages and concentrations, total carbon contents data of Yanwan section.