The 2000 Yunnan earthquake occurred on January 14 at 23:37
UTC, in
Yunnan,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The
earthquake killed 7 people, and caused much damage in central Yunnan Province.
The quake was moderate, with a magnitude of 5.9; however, it left 2,528 injured, 92,479 homeless and destroyed over 41,000 homes.
It was preceded by a magnitude 5.5
foreshock at 22:09 on the same day.
Tectonic setting
Yunnan lies within the area affected by the continuing collision between the
India Plate and the
Eurasian Plate that has led to the formation of the
Tibetan Plateau. Lateral eastward spreading of this zone of thickened
crust is impeded by the presence of the
South China Block and this causes clockwise rotation of the Sichuan–Yunnan block, accommodated by left-lateral
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 ...
faults on its eastern margin and right lateral strike-slip faults to the west.
Earthquake
The earthquake sequence started with two foreshocks at 22:09 (M5.5) and 22:23 (M3.9) on January 14.
The mainshock, which occurred soon afterwards at 23:37, had an estimated magnitude of 5.9 (ANSS), 6.0 or 6.5 .
It was followed within the hour by a 4.5 aftershock.
Based on the aftershock distribution, the earthquake was the result of rupture along a fault with a
strike of N50°W. The causative fault was most likely the right lateral Maweiqing fault, one of the faults that forms the western boundary of the Sichuan-Yunnan block.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in 2000
This is a list of earthquakes in 2000. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. All dates are listed according to UTC time.
Compared to other y ...
*
List of earthquakes in Yunnan
This is a list of earthquakes that have occurred in or have affected Yunnan Province in China.
Major earthquakes (≥Magnitude 7.0)
Major earthquakes (Magnitude 6.0–6.9)
Moderately large earthquakes (≤Magnitude 5.9)
See also
* ...
*
List of earthquakes in China
References
External links
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2000 Yunnan
2000 earthquakes
2000 in China
January 2000 events in Asia
2000 disasters in China
Geography of Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture
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