The 2003 Bachu earthquake occurred on 24 February at 10:03

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

in the

Xinjiang Autonomous Region Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

in northwest China. The

epicentre 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 ...

was located near to the town of Jiashi and

Bachu County Maralbexi County (Maralbeshi, Maralbishi, transliterated from ; ), Bachu County (), and ) the former long Chinese name as well, is located in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China and is under th ...

, approximately 105 km east of Kashgar and 310 km west of Aksu.

Tectonic setting

Seismic activity is common in the Bachu and the surrounding area. It occurs as a result of movement on fault systems that bound the Tien Shan mountain belt. The Tien Shan is actively evolving, as a result of far-field stresses associated with the collision of India and Eurasia. According to the moment tensor solution, the earthquake occurred on a

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...

that dips 6° to the north, and strikes approximately east–west. Such a gentle dip angle implies that the earthquake may have occurred on or just above the basal detachment of the neighbouring fold-thrust belts. There is no evidence of oblique-slip or strike-slip movement.

Damage and casualties

It affected the counties of Bachu, Jiashi,

Artux Artux, Artush ( ug, ئاتۇش شەھىرى; ky, ارتىش, Артыш, Artysh), and officially rendered as Atuş ( zh, s=阿图什市, p=Ātúshí Shì),The official spelling according to is a county-level city and the capital of the Kyrgyz au ...

and Makit, as well as the city of Kashgar. At least 261 people died as a result of the earthquake, and more than 4,000 were injured. According to

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

, the quake was the most serious in the area since 1949. In the town of Chongku Qiake, the worst hit town in Bachu, every house was damaged, leaving 90 percent of the population without shelter. Most of the casualties occurred in the county, where more than 158 were killed including the elderly and children. Around 12 children in a secondary school were killed when their school collapsed. Two bodies of children were found in a primary school. Almost 71,000 homes were levelled and 40,119 others were damaged by the earthquake. A further 5 people were killed in powerful aftershocks which occurred on 26 February 2003.

References

External links

BBC News – "In Pictures: China earthquake"BBC News – "China aftershocks claim more lives"BBC News – "China quake prisoners escape injury"M 6.3 – southern Xinjiang, China
– United States Geological Survey * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bachu Earthquake, 2003 2003 Bachu 2003 earthquakes February 2003 events in China 2003 disasters in China Earthquakes in Kyrgyzstan

Tectonic setting

Damage and casualties

See also

References

External links