The 1925 Dali earthquake occurred at 14:42 UTC on 16 March. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.0 on the

surface wave magnitude The surface wave magnitude (M_s) scale is one of the magnitude scales used in seismology to describe the size of an earthquake. It is based on measurements of Rayleigh surface waves that travel along the uppermost layers of the Earth. This ma ...

scale and a maximum perceived intensity of at least IX (''Violent'') on the

Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

. It had an

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

in the province of

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

in southern China and killed an estimated 5,000 people.

Tectonic setting

Yunnan lies in a tectonically complex zone affected by the broad zone of deformation associated with the ongoing

collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great fo ...

between the

Indian Plate The Indian Plate (or India Plate) is a minor tectonic plate straddling the equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Indian Plate broke away from the other fragments of Gondwana , began mov ...

and the

Eurasian Plate The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent and ...

. A rhomb-shaped fault-bounded block, known as the Sichuan-Yunnan Block, is recognised that is bounded by the

active Active may refer to: Music * ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea * Active Records, a record label Ships * ''Active'' (ship), several commercial ships by that name * HMS ''Active'', the name of various ships of the British Royal ...

left-lateral

strike-slip faults 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 ...

of the

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 seismicall ...

and the currently right lateral

Red River Fault The Red River Fault or Song Hong Fault ( vi, Đới Đứt Gãy Sông Hồng) is a major fault in Yunnan, China and Vietnam which accommodates continental China's (Yangtze Plate) southward movement It is coupled with that of the Sagaing Fault in ...

and Jinshajiang Fault.

Earthquake

The earthquake was caused by movement on the northwestern part of the

. The area affected by shaking of at least intensity VII was nearly 5,000 square kilometres.

Damage

The city of Dali was severely damaged. 76,000 homes were destroyed either by the shaking or subsequent fires. The city walls were badly affected, locally collapsing completely, with battlements devastated and two of the gate towers destroyed. 3,600 people were killed in the city, with a further 7,200 injured. 5,000 livestock were also killed. In Fengyi, thousands of houses were destroyed and over 1,200 people died, with a further 550 injured. In

Midu County Midu County () is a county in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture located in west-central Yunnan province, China. Administrative divisions Midu County has 6 towns, 1 township and 1 ethnic township. ;6 towns ;1 township * Deju () ;1 ethnic towns ...

, 159 people died and 165 were injured. In

Binchuan County Binchuan County () is a county in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture located in the west of Yunnan Province, China. Mount Jizu Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: ...

, over 800 people died and more than 500 were injured. There were also deaths in Dengchuan, Xiangyun and Weishan.

References

External links

* {{Earthquakes in China Earthquakes in Yunnan 1925 earthquakes March 1925 events 1925 in China Geography of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture

Tectonic setting

Earthquake

Damage

See also

References

External links