The Xianshuihe fault system or the Yushu-Ganzi-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 China.
The 1973 Luhuo earthquake struck near the town of Zhaggo in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, China on February 6, 1973, with a magnitude of 7.6 . The earthquake had a maximum intensity of X (Extreme) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. It resulted in between 2,175 and 2,204 deaths and a further 2,743 injuries. Serious and widespread destruction occurred in Luhuo County.
A major earthquake occurred during the rule of the Qing dynasty in Shandong Province on July 25, 1668. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.5, making it the largest historical earthquake in East China, and one of the largest to occur on land. An estimated 43,000 to 50,000 people were killed, and its effects were widely felt. Its epicenter may have been located between Ju and Tancheng counties, northeast of the prefecture-level city of Linyi in southern Shandong.
The 1902 Turkestan earthquake devastated Xinjiang, China, near the Kyrgyzstan border. It occurred on August 22, 1902, at 03:00:22 with an epicenter in the Tien Shan mountains. The thrust earthquake measured 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale (Mw ) and had a depth of 18 km (11 mi).
The 1995 Menglian earthquake or 1995 Myanmar–China earthquake occurred on 12 July at 05:46:43 local time in the Myanmar–China border region. The earthquake had an epicenter on the Myanmar side of the border, located in the mountainous region of Shan State. It registered 7.3 on the Chinese surface wave magnitude scale (Ms ) and 6.8 on the moment magnitude scale (Mw ). With a maximum Mercalli intensity assigned at VIII, it killed 11 people and left another 136 injured. Over 100,000 homes in both countries were destroyed and 42,000 seriously damaged. Some damage to structures were also reported in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, Thailand. The low death toll from this earthquake was attributed to an early warning issued prior to it happening. Precursor events including foreshocks and some seismic anomalies led to an evacuation of the area before the mainshock struck. It is thought to be one of the few successfully predicted earthquakes in history.
The 1695 Linfen earthquake struck Shanxi Province in North China, Qing dynasty on May 18. Occurring at a shallow depth within the continental crust, the surface-wave magnitude 7.8 earthquake had a maximum intensity of XI on the China seismic intensity scale and Mercalli intensity scale. This devastating earthquake affected over 120 counties across eight provinces of modern-day China. An estimated 52,600 people died in the earthquake, although the death toll may have been 176,365.
The 1850 Xichang earthquake rocked Sichuan Province of Qing China on September 12. The earthquake which caused major damage in Xichang county had an estimated moment magnitude of 7.3–7.9 Mw and a surface wave magnitude of 7.5–7.7 Ms . An estimated 20,650 people died.
The region of Zhili was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.5 or 7.4 on June 12, 1830. The epicentre was close to Cixian, which suffered the most severe damage. A total of 7,477 people died as a result of the earthquake.
Western Henan and southern Shanxi in northern China were struck by an earthquake of estimated magnitude 6.8 on 23 October 1815. The epicentre was in Pinglu County in southernmost Shanxi, which was the worse affected area. It had a maximum felt intensity of IX (violent) on the Modified Mercalli scale. It caused the collapse of many houses and cave dwellings and led to the deaths of at least 13,000 people.
The Ordos Block is a crustal block, that forms part of the larger North China Block (NCB). It is surrounded by active fault systems and has been a distinct block since at least the Mesozoic. It is bordered to the west by the Alxa Block, the westernmost part of the NCB, to the south by the Qinling orogenic belt, to the north by the Yanshan-Yinshan orogenic belt, part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and to the east by the Taihangshan mountain range, which forms part of the Trans-North China Orogen. The block is currently stable and large earthquakes are restricted to the bordering fault zones. It has been suggested that the block is currently undergoing anti-clockwise rotation with respect to the Eurasian Plate, as a result of the ongoing eastward spreading of the Tibetan Plateau, although this view has been challenged.
The 1626 Lingqiu earthquake had an epicentre in Lingqiu County, Shanxi Province during the Ming dynasty. The estimated surface wave magnitude (Ms ) 7.0 earthquake caused many buildings to collapse. Over 5,200 people were killed.
The 1937 Heze earthquakes struck the Mudan District in Shandong Province, China on July 31 and August 1 respectively. The moment magnitude 7.0 and 6.7 earthquakes were centered near the city of Heze. Although the total number of casualties has never been finalized, at least 3,252 people died and 12,701 were injured. The earthquakes also killed more than 6,000 livestock and destroyed 470,000 homes. Due to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, rescue operations by the Chinese government were ineffective.
The Shanxi Rift System or Fen–Wei Rift System is a zone of active extensional tectonics that forms the eastern margin of the Ordos Block in northern China. The zone extends for at least 900 km (560 mi) and runs south-southwest to north-northeast. The individual rift basins that make up the rift system have an overall en echelon geometry, consistent with a right lateral sense of strike-slip displacement across the zone. The basins contain a thick sedimentary sequence of Neogene age, which ranges from 2.0 to 3.8 km in thickness. The rift system is continuous with the Weihe Basin to the southwest, which became active during the Paleogene. Rupture of the major normal faults that bound the Weihe and Shanxi rift basins has caused many large and damaging historical earthquakes, including the 1303 Hongdong, 1556 Shaanxi, 1626 Lingqiu, 1695 Linfen and 1815 Pinglu events.
An earthquake struck the Jordan Rift Valley on December 5, AD 1033 and caused extreme devastation in the Levant region. It was part of a sequence of four strong earthquakes in the region between 1033 and 1035. Scholars have estimated the moment magnitude to be greater than 7.0 Mw and evaluated the Modified Mercalli intensity to X (Extreme). It triggered a tsunami along the Mediterranean coast, causing damage and fatalities. At least 70,000 people were killed in the disaster.
The 1979 Saint Elias earthquake occurred near noon local time on 28 February. It measured Mw 7.4–7.6. Though the maximum recorded Modified Mercalli intensity was VII, damage was minimal and there were no casualties due to the remoteness of the faulting. The epicenter lies near the Alaskan border between the United States and Canada.
The Keichō–Fushimi earthquake struck Japan on September 5, 1596. The earthquake measuring 7.5 ± 0.25 produced intense shaking across the Kansai region. Devastation was recorded in Kyoto and over 1,200 people perished.
The 1755 Meknes earthquake affected Morocco on 27 November 1755. The earthquake had a moment magnitude (Mw ) estimated at between 6.5 and 7.0. It devastated the cities of Fes and Meknes—killing at least 15,000 people in both cities. The earthquake struck less than a month after another earthquake that devastated Morocco and Lisbon on 1 November. Previously regarded as an aftershock, this earthquake likely represented rupture of a separate fault due to changes in tectonic stress following their first event.
The 1913 Eshan earthquake struck China's Yunnan Province on 21 December with a moment magnitude of 6.8 and maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shock devastated Eshan County; at least 942 people died and thousands of homes were destroyed. The earthquake ruptured along a section of the strike-slip Qujiang Fault.
