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Bayan Har Block
The Bayan Har block or Bayan Kola block is an elongate wedge-shaped block that forms part of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. It is bounded to the southeast by the Longmenshan Fault, a major thrust fault zone, which forms the active tectonic boundary between the plateau and the Sichuan Basin. To the northeast, the boundary is formed by the Kunlun and Minjaing Faults juxtaposing the block against the Eastern Kunlun-Qaidam block and to the southwest by the Xianshuihe fault system forms its boundary with the Qiangtang block. All of these are major left-lateral strike-slip fault zones. The block is currently moving to the southeast relative to the South China block. Seismicity Earthquakes are mainly concentrated on the faults bounding the block, such as the 2001 Kunlun earthquake (on the Kunlun Fault), the 2008 Sichuan earthquake (on the Longmenshan Fault) and the 1973 Luhuo earthquake, 1981 Dawu earthquake and 2010 Yushu earthquake (all on the Xianshuihe fault system). In May 2021, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2001 Kunlun Earthquake
The 2001 Kunlun earthquake also known as the 2001 Kokoxili earthquake, occurred on 14 November 2001 at 09:26 UTC (17:26 local time), with an epicenter near Kokoxili, close to the border between Qinghai and Xinjiang in a remote mountainous region. With a magnitude of 7.8 Mw (8.0 ), it was the most powerful earthquake in China for 5 decades. No casualties were reported, presumably due to the very low population density and the lack of high-rise buildings. This earthquake was associated with the longest surface rupture ever recorded on land, ~450 km. Tectonic setting The Kunlun fault is one of the major sinistral strike-slip structures that accommodate the eastward motion of the Tibetan Plateau relative to the Eurasian Plate. This motion is caused by the lateral spreading of the zone of thickened crust associated with the collision between the Indian and Eurasian Plates. Earthquake The earthquake rupture began on a relatively small strike-slip fault segment at the west ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intraplate Earthquake
The term intraplate earthquake refers to a variety of earthquake that occurs ''within the interior'' of a tectonic plate; this stands in contrast to an interplate earthquake, which occurs ''at the boundary'' of a tectonic plate. Intraplate earthquakes are often called "intraslab earthquakes", especially when occurring in microplates. Intraplate earthquakes are relatively rare compared to the more familiar boundary-located interplate earthquakes. Structures far from plate boundaries tend to lack seismic retrofitting, so large intraplate earthquakes can inflict heavy damage. Examples of damaging intraplate earthquakes are the devastating Gujarat earthquake in 2001, the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes, the 2017 Puebla earthquake, the 1811–1812 earthquakes in New Madrid, Missouri, and the 1886 earthquake in Charleston, South Carolina. Fault zones within tectonic plates The surface of the Earth is made up of seven primary and eight secondary tectonic plates, plus dozens of terti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021 Maduo Earthquake
The 2021 Maduo earthquake, also known as the 5.22 earthquake struck Madoi County in Qinghai Province, China on 22 May at 02:04 local time. The earthquake had a moment magnitude and surface-wave magnitude of 7.4. Highway bridges, roads and walls collapsed as a result of the earthquake. According to an anonymous source, at least 20 people were killed, 300 were injured, and 13 were missing. Officials stated that there were no deaths but 19 people sustained minor injuries. It was the strongest in China since 2008. It was assigned a maximum intensity of X in Machali, Maduo County on the China seismic intensity scale and Modified Mercalli intensity scale. This earthquake was preceded by another unrelated earthquake that occurred 5 hours earlier in Yunnan. Tectonic setting Western Sichuan is situated at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau in a vast zone of complex continental deformation caused by the collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. As the thrusting of the Indian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2010 Yushu Earthquake
The 2010 Yushu earthquake struck on April 14 and registered a magnitude of 6.9 Mw (USGS, EMSC) or 7.1 MsAbout 400 dead, 10,000 injured in 7.1-magnitude quake in China's Qinghai , xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 14 April 2010. ( CEA, CENC). It had a maximum felt intensity of IX (''Violent'') on the . It originated in [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1981 Dawu Earthquake
The 1981 Dawu earthquake occurred on , in Sichuan, China. Registering a surface wave magnitude of 6.8, the earthquake killed about 150 people and injured roughly 300 more. It caused comprehensive damage within close range of its epicenter. Background China has an extensive history of catastrophic earthquakes that ranges back to 1290. The first verified earthquake took place in Chih-li, killing roughly 100,000 people. The next great earthquake was probably the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake, the most devastating earthquake of all time. Roughly 830,000 were killed by the event. Other earthquakes in 1917, 1918, 1920, 1923, 1925, 1927, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1948, 1950, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976 each killed at least one thousand people. Since 1981, earthquake fatalities have diminished greatly, though have not been stopped. As recently as 2008, an earthquake in Sichuan killed nearly 90,000 people. Characteristics The epicenter was pinpointed to Dawu County in Sichuan. Its offici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1973 Luhuo Earthquake
The 1973 Luhuo earthquake struck near the town of Zhaggo in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, China on February 6 with a magnitude of 7.6 . The earthquake had a maximum intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale, resulting in 2,199 deaths and a further 2,743 injuries in Sichuan. Serious and widespread destruction to villages was reported in Luhuo County as a result of the earthquake. Tectonic setting Western Sichuan is situated at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau in a vast zone of complex continental deformation caused by the collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. As the thrusting of the Indian Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate along the Himalayas continues, the continental crust within the Eurasian Plate is actively uplifted and thickened, forming the Tibetan Plateau. As there are no active thrust structures within the plateau, compression is accommodated by strike-slip motion along large structures including the Altyn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South China Block
The Yangtze Plate, also called the South China Block or the South China Subplate, comprises the bulk of southern China. It is separated on the east from the Okinawa Plate by a rift that forms the Okinawa Trough which is a back-arc basin, on the south by the Sunda Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, and on the north and west by the Eurasian Plate. The Longmenshan Fault on the latter border was the site of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The Yangtze Plate was formed by the disaggregation of the Rodinia Supercontinent 750 million years ago, in the Neoproterozoic era. South China rifted away from the Gondwana supercontinent in the Silurian. During the formation of the great supercontinent Pangaea, South China was a smaller, separate continent located off the east coast of the supercontinent and drifting northward. In the Triassic the Yangtze Plate collided with the North China Plate, thereby connecting with Pangaea, and formed the Sichuan basin. In the Cenozoic the Yangtze Plat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region, most of Qinghai, western half of Sichuan, Southern Gansu provinces in Western China, southern Xinjiang, Bhutan, the Indian regions of Ladakh and Lahaul and Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) as well as Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan, northwestern Nepal, eastern Tajikistan and southern Kyrgyzstan. It stretches approximately north to south and east to west. It is the world's highest and largest plateau above sea level, with an area of (about five times the size of Metropolitan France). With an average elevation exceeding and being surrounded by imposing mountain ranges that harbor the world's two highest summits, Mount Everest and K2, the Tibetan Plateau is often referred to as "the Roof of the World". The Tibetan Plateau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strike-slip
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes. Faults may also displace slowly, by aseismic creep. A ''fault plane'' is the plane that represents the fracture surface of a fault. A ''fault trace'' or ''fault line'' is a place where the fault can be seen or mapped on the surface. A fault trace is also the line commonly plotted on geologic maps to represent a fault. A ''fault zone'' is a cluster of parallel faults. However, the term is also used for the zone of crushed rock along a single fault. Prolonged motion along closely spaced faults can blur the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xianshuihe Fault System
The Xianshuihe fault system is a major active sinistral (left-lateral) strike-slip fault zone in southwestern China, at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. It has been responsible for many major earthquakes, and is one of the most seismically active fault zones in this part of China. Tectonic setting The Xianshuihe fault system lies within the complex zone of continental collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It forms one of a set of sinistral fault zones that help accommodate the eastward spreading of the Tibetan Plateau. The fault zone defines the northern and eastern edges of the Sichuan-Yunnan block, and the southeastern boundary of the Bayan Har block. Geometry The Xianshuihe fault system comprises several distinct segments, with an overall length of about 350 km. The main segments are the Ganzi (or Ganzi-Yushu), the Xianshuihe, the Anninghe-Zemuhe, and the Xiaojiang faults. Seismicity Movements on this fault system have been responsible for man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
