To understand the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of the destructive forces of the severe tropical cyclones (STC, tropical cyclones with intensities that is higher than typhoon) to various targets in the South China Sea (SCS), the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) tropical cyclone best track dataset was used to calculate the Power Dissipation Index (PDI) of the tropical cyclones reaching to STC level. Thereafter, the PDIs were then assigned to different spatial locations for analyzing on the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of the destructive forces of the STC in the SCS from 1953 to 2022. The results showed that: 1) The spatial distributions of the STC destructive forces exhibit high values in the northeast and low values in the southwest and southern regions. That is, the water areas around the Dongsha Islands (17°~21°N, 116°~120°E) have the highest PDIs, and as far away from the Dongsha Islands, the PDIs decrease radially towards the west and the south. 2) The spatial extent of high-destructive-force areas shows a trend of initial increase, followed by a decrease, and thereafter increase again over the time. 3) The destructive forces of the STC also show an increasing-decreasing-increasing trend over the time, and show an increasing followed by decreasing trend with the latitudes decreasing. Moreover, the centroids of the PDIs of the STC are generally seen moving to the south. Further analyses indicate that the variabilities of the numbers and duration of the STC that are produced in the Western Pacific and then enter the SCS are the most important factors that affect the spatial distributions of the STC destructive forces in the SCS.