Intracontinental basins and strong earthquakes

Introduction A M=8 earthquake occurred in the intracontinental Linfen basin on September 17, 1303. This is the Hongtong M=8 earthquake in Shanxi Province. It is the first recorded M = 8 earthquake since the Chinese historical seismic records had started. The earthquake killed 200 000 people (LI, 1960; XIE, CAI, 1983). The year 2003 is the 700th anniversary of the earthquake occurrence. In memory of the people died in the earthquake, for further improving earthquake prevention and disas…     

Seismic characteristics near the epicenter of the 1303 Hongtong M=8 earthquake, Shanxi Province and its implication

Introduction A great earthquake occurred on Sept. 25 of 1303 (Seventh of Dade, Yuan Dynasty) around Zhaocheng and Hongtong in Shanxi Province. The great earthquake is a very famous one, which is affirmed as the first earthquake with magnitude 8 in Chinese history. The catastrophes took place; meanwhile, huge archives of the disaster were recorded. According to these disaster recordings, the first isoseismal map in China was delineated, which provide us with abundant information of intensi…     

Textual research of 1219 A.D. Guyuan earthquake in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region,China and discussion on its causative structure

On the basis of textual research on the historical earthquake data and the field investigation of 1219 A.D.Guyuan earthquake,we suggest that there is only one strong earthquake occurred in Guyuan area in 1219 A.D.,instead of two or three strong earthquakes.We further suggest that the earthquake parameters recorded in the present earth-quake catalogs are not definite and should be modified.The occurrence time of this earthquake should be about 11 am,August 7,1219 A.D.and the heavily-damaged area of this earthquake,the VIII intensity area,should be lo-cated among the regions of Guyuan,Pingliang and Longde county cities.The epicenter area should be near Gu-yuan city.The magnitude of this earthquake is about 7 and it has intensity about larger than or equal to IX within the epicenter area.The major axis direction of the heavily-damaged area strikes in north-northwest that is ap-proximately consistent with the strike of the Liupan Shan thrust fault zone.The new tectonic activity of the Liupan Shan thrust fault zone resulted in the M7 Guyuan earthquake in 1219 A.D.     

Textual Research on the July 7,1590 A. D. Southeastern Yongjing Earthquake in Gansu Province

According to historical records,in July of 1590 A.D.,a destructive earthquake occurred near Lintao county in Gansu Province,in which "… city walls and houses collapsed,and countless people and domestic animals were killed".In the same month,Binggou town in eastern Qinghai Province(now northeastern Ledu county),was also damaged by an earthquake.These two earthquakes were listed as two different cases in the published earthquake catalogues,recorded separately as the Lintao M_S5.5 earthquake with epicentral intensity Ⅶ in Gansu Province and the Ledu M_S5.0 earthquake with epicentral intensity Ⅵ in Qinghai Province.However,based on comprehensive analysis of research on historical records and field investigations,it is concluded in this paper that these two earthquakes could be the same one with magnitude 6.5 and epicentral intensity Ⅷ～Ⅸ.Its epicenter was in the Maxian Mt.,which is located in southeastern Yongjing and its seismogenic structure might be the mid-western segments of the north fringe fault zone of Maxian Mt.of Lanzhou.     

Discussion on the feature of strong earthquake: Orderly distribution in time, space and intensity before the Western Kunlun Mountain Pass M=8.1 earthquake

Introduction The Western Kunlun Mountain Pass M=8.1 earthquake occurred on November 14, 2001 is the other M=8 earthquake occurred 50 years after Dangxiong, Tibet M=8.0 earthquake in Chinese mainland. The earthquake has caused the attention of the seismologists in the following aspects: 1) The fracture length is more than 400 km, which is far away from the estimated length by the statistic empirical function between the magnitude and the fracture length (WANG, et al, 2002); 2) The aftersh…     

Seismogenic structure and rupture characteristics of the M_S=4.8 Jingyang earthquake

Introduction An earthquake of MS=4.8 occurred near Yongle town, Jingyang county, Shaanxi Province on January 5, 1998. Its epicenter is 34.5篘, 108.9篍, origin time is 09h36min (Beijing time), focal depth is 14 km, intensity is >VI and its perceptibility is great in Xian city. The eastern part of Guanzhong in Shaanxi Province is the key earthquake monitoring area in China, and many great earthquakes occurred here in history. This earthquake is the greatest in the past forty years in Shaa…     

Seismic characteristics near the epicenter of the 1303 Hongtong M=8 earthquake, Shanxi Province and its implication

In this paper, we calculated the seismic pattern of instrumental recorded small and moderate earthquakes near the epicenter of the 1303 Hongtong M=8 earthquake, Shanxi Province. According to the spatial distribution of small and moderate earthquakes, 6 seismic dense zones are delineated. Temporal distribution of ML≥2 earthquakes since 1970 in each seismic dense zone has been analyzed. Based on temporal distribution characteristics and historical earthquake activity, three types of seismicities are proposed. The relationship between seismic types and crustal medium is analyzed. The mechanism of three types is discussed. Finity of strong earthquake recurrence is proposed. Seismic hazard in mid-long term and diversity of earthquake disaster in Shanxi seismic belt are discussed.     

Seismicity anomalies before the great earthquake of M_S=8.1 in the Kunlun Pass and its significance to earthquake prediction

Introduction The MS=8.1 earthquake occurred in west of the Kunlun Pass on November 14, 2001. It is the greatest earthquake occurred in China since the last half of the century and is an important event in recent seismic history of China. Some specialists consider that the earthquake occurred in the area where the earthquake monitoring capability is lowest in Chinese mainland; no striking precursory seismicity was found. The study on the precursory seismicity before the earthquake has not b…     

Background Seismicity and Its Application to Seismic Hazard Assessment in the North China Region

The historical earthquake activity is intense in the North China region. However, no middle-sized earthquakes have occurred in the last decades in the region since the MS6.2 earthquake in the Zhangbei region in 1998. The quiescence of moderate and strong earthquakes is quite prominent in North China. In this paper, we use small earthquake records in 1970~2009 to study background seismic activity in the North China region. The spatial distributions of seismic parameters are presented, including b-value, the maximum magnitude and annual occurrence probability of earthquakes of M≥6.0. Our results show regions with low b-value that include the Yuncheng region in the Shanxi rift, the Suqian region located in the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone and the Shijiazhuang region in the Taihangshan block. Our analysis on the synthetic spatial pattern of seismicity indicate that seismicity in the North China region is mainly affected by the regional dynamic factors of deep structures.     

Analysis of the Characteristics of the D.P.R. Korean Seismic Event on September 23, 2017

A M3. 4 seismic event occurred in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site,D. P. R Korea at 16∶29 p.m. on September 23,2017. We analyzed the waveforms of this event recorded by the China Earthquake Networks Center. In conclusion,this event is complex,including an explosion with a successive earthquake. Although the beginning of the event is an explosion,fault dislocation plays the main role in the event.     

The Brief Introduction to the April 14,2010 Yushu M7.1 Earthquake Sequence

<正>An earthquake with M7. 1 occurred in Yushu,Qinghai Province,China,at 07:49 a. m. on April 14,2010,according to the Chinese Seismic Station Network. The sequence is a fore-mainafter-shock type sequence. A foreshock with M4. 7 occurred 2 hours and 11 minutes before the main shock. There were 12 foreshocks and 2385 aftershocks until June 31,2010. In which,there are 21 aftershocks between M3. 0 and M3.     

The GIS and analysis of earthquake damage distribution of the 1303 Hongtong M=8 earthquake

Introduction The 1303 Hongtong earthquake is an important earthquake in the eastern China. There is a lot of information in historical documents about the earthquake and many traces destroyed by the earthquake in the southern Shanxi Province. Many scholars have studied the earthquake from dif-ferent aspects, but mainly limited the definitions of the isoseismal and three factors of the earth-quake. Owing to being limited by the analysis technique, many useful damage information of the earthqu…     

Relocation and seismogenic structure of the 1998 Zhangbei-Shangyi earthquake sequence

Introduction The January 10, 1998 Zhangbei-Shangyi, Hebei Province, earthquake has been the third large event of magnitude 6.0 and greater since the 1976 great Tangshan earthquake of magnitude 7.8 in the northern China (33皛42癗, 110皛124癊). Before this event, there were only two events of magnitude 6.0 and greater occurred in or around the Tangshan area since 1976: the M=6.9 Ninghe, Tianjin, earthquake of November 15, 1976 and the M=6.2 Hangu, Tianjin, earthquake of May 12, 1977. The …     

Textual Research on the Historical Data of the 1573 AD Minxian Earthquake in Gansu Province and Discussion on Its Seismogenic Structure

According to the detailed study of the historical earthquake records and causative structure of the Minxian M61/2 earthquake in 1573 A.D., we have found that the most grievous disaster area lies nearby the Minxian county seat (Minzhou county at that time). So, we have identified the extremely seismic area of the 1573 A.D. The Minxian M61/2 earthquake was located in Minxian city, the intensity of the meizoseismal region is Ⅷ～Ⅸ, the epicenter is 34.4°N, 104.0°E, the location precision is Ⅱ and the deviation of location is less than or equal to 25km. Tectonically, this area lies in the transition region of stress transfer and structural transform between the east Kunlun fault and the northern margin of the west Qinling fault.The differential activity of the Lintan-Dangchang fault zone is obvious, and only parts of the segment put up Holocene activity. There are landslides and rock bursts of different sizes in the meizoseismal region. By integrated analysis, we conclude that the Minxian-Dangchang segment of the Lintan-Dangchang fault is the seismogenic structure of the 1573 A.D. M61/2 Minxian earthquake, in Gansu Province.     

Distribution characteristics of historical earthquake classes in Jiangsu Province and South Huanghai Sea region

Introduction In the region of Jiangsu Province and South Huanghai Sea, only 14 M4.7 earthquakes (ex-cluding aftershocks and other main shocks in the swarm) occurred from 1970 when microseismic observation net was built. It is very difficult to objectively distinguish the law of earthquake series distribution in a region based on these data. However, from the antiquity in China, Jiangsu is an area with flourish economy and a galaxy of talent and culture. In Jiangsu, historical data are so c…     

Characteristics of strong motions and damage implications of M S6.5 Ludian earthquake on August 3, 2014

The Ludian County of Yunnan Province in southwestern China was struck by an MS6.5 earthquake on August 3, 2014, which was another destructive event following the MS8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, MS7.1 Yushu earthquake in 2010, and MS7.0 Lushan earthquake in 2013. National Strong-Motion Observation Network System of China collected 74 strong motion recordings,which the maximum peak ground acceleration recorded by the 053 LLT station in Longtoushan Town was 949 cm/s2 in E–W component. The observed PGAs and spectral ordinates were compared with ground-motion prediction equation in China and the NGA-West2 developed by Pacific Earthquake Engineering Researcher Center. This earthquake is considered as the first case for testing applicability of NGA-West2 in China. Results indicate that the observed PGAs and the 5 % damped pseudo-response spectral accelerations are significantly lower than the predicted ones. The field survey around some typical strong motion stations verified that the earthquake damage was consistent with the official isoseismal by China Earthquake Administration.     

Changes in source parameters of foreshocks and aftershocks of the 2001 M_S=6.0 Yajiang, Sichuan, earthquake

Introduction An MS=6.0 earthquake occurred on February 23, 2001 in Yajiang county, Sichuan Province. The earthquake is located on the east of the southeast segment of the Litang-Dewu fault with strike of NW. Before the event, on February 14, an MS=5.0 earthquake took place nearly in the same place. In 1948 an MS=7.3 earthquake occurred on the northwestern segment of the Litang fault. The length of the surface rupture belt caused by the earthquake is 70 km, which extended from Litang to…     

Three-dimensional S-wave velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle for the normal fault system beneath the Yinchuan Basin from joint inversion of receiver function and surface wave

A series of parallel normal faults are distributed in the Helan Mountain-Yinchuan Basin tectonic belt,where a historical M8.0 earthquake occurred.It is rare that such a great earthquake occurs in a normal fault system within the continent.To deeply understand the fine structure of the normal fault system,we deployed 104 broadband temporary stations near the system,collected data from permanent stations and other temporary stations nearby,and obtained the high-precision threedimensional S-wave ve...     

ON THE VARIETY AND COMPLEXITY OF THE SHORT-TERM AND URGENT PRECURSORS OF THE TANGSHAN EARTHQUAKE

The Tangshan earthquake(M=7.8)which occurred on July 28, 1976 is the greatest event among the modern catastrophes in China. It occurred in a region that was the most densely networked with seismic stations, a region that had the longest history in seismological work and had received