Process Analysis of In-situ Strain during the Ms8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake—Data from the Stress Monitoring Station at Shandan

Abstract: There were huge life and property losses during the Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008. Strain fluctuation curves were completely recorded at stress observatory stations in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and its surroundings in the process of the earthquake. This paper introduces the geological background of the Wenchuan earthquake and the profile of in-situ stress monitoring stations. In particular, data of 174 earthquakes (Ms4.0-Ms8.5) were processed and analyzed with various methods, which were recorded at the Shandan station from August 2007 to December 2008. The results were compared with other seismic data, and further analyses were done for the recoded strain seismic waves, co-seismic strain stepovers, pre-earthquake strain valleys, Earth’s free oscillations before and after the earthquake and their physical implications. During the Wenchuan earthquake, the strainmeter recorded a huge extensional strain of 70 seconds, which shows that the Wenchuan earthquake is a rupture process predominated by thrusting. Significant precursory strain anomalies were detected 48 hours, 30 hours, 8 hours and 37 minutes before the earthquake. The anomalies are very high and their forms are very similar to that of the main shock. Similar anomalies can also be found in strain curves of other shocks greater than Ms7.0, indicating that such anomalies are prevalent before a great earthquake. In this paper, it is shown that medium aftershocks (Ms5.5-6.0) can also cause Earth’s free oscillations. Study of free oscillations is of great significance to understand the internal structure of the Earth and focal mechanisms of earthquakes and to recognize slow shocks, thus providing a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of geological disasters and the prediction of future earthquakes.     

The 2014 Northern Thailand Mw 6.1 Earthquake and its Seismogenic Tectonics

On May 5, 2014, an earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 6.1 (the largest earthquake in Thailand so far) occurred in Chiang Rai of the Golden Triangle area in northern Thailand. We had an opportunity to conduct field survey immediately after the earthquake. Serious damage to buildings and casualties of lives were observed, and the estimated Maximum Mercalli Intensity (MMI) of the earthquake is VIII (evaluated according to the MMI scale of the Chinese Standard). No long continuous ground ruptures were produced during the earthquake,??but in the epicenter (commonly within MMI VIII extent), massive small linear ruptures (usually several tens of meters long) developed and displayed intriguing structural features, offsetting many roads several centimeters left laterally on NE trending cracks or offsetting right laterally on NW trending ones. The focal mechanism solution of earthquake shows that this is a pure strike-slip event, and two nodal planes in NW and NE directions had the same motion senses respectively as those of breakage associated with the earthquake. The long axis of the isoseismals and aftershock distributions are in NE direction,which is consistent with the strike of Luang Namtha fault. The 230-km-long Luang Namtha fault which starts from the border of China and Laos, runs through northern Laos, and terminates at Chiang Rai of Thailand is predominated by left-lateral strike-slip and active in late Quaternary, and two earthquakes over Ms 6.0 occurred along the fault in 1925 and 2007 respectively. This Mw 6.1 earthquake occurred at the southwestern end of the fault. All related features such as evident structural rupturing, elongated orientation of MMI and aftershock distribution,as well as the location of the epicenter,suggest that the Luang Namtha fault may be responsible for the 2014 Northern Thailand earthquake.     

Preliminary Results of In‐situ Stress Measurements along the Longmenshan Fault Zone after the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 Earthquake

Abstract: Four months after the Wenchuan Ms 8 earthquake in western Sichuan, China, in situ stress measurements were carried out along the Longmenshan fault zone with the purpose of obtaining stress parameters for earthquake hazard assessment. In-situ stresses were measured in three new boreholes by using overcoring with the piezomagnetic stress gauges for shallow depths and hydraulic fracturing for lower depths. The maximum horizontal stress in shallow depths (~20 m) is about 4.3 MPa, oriented N19°E, in the epicenter area at Yingxiu Town, about 9.7 MPa, oriented N51°W, at Baoxing County in the southwestern Longmenshan range, and about 2.6 MPa, oriented N39°E, near Kangding in the southernmost zone of the Longmenshan range. Hydraulic fracturing at borehole depths from 100 to 400 m shows a tendency towards increasing stress with depth. A comparison with the results measured before the Wenchuan earthquake along the Longmenshan zone and in the Tibetan Plateau demonstrates that the stress level remains relatively high in the southwestern segment of the Longmenshan range, and is still moderate in the epicenter zone. These results provide a key appraisal for future assessment of earthquake hazards of the Longmenshan fault zone and the aftershock occurrences of the Wenchuan earthquake.     

Analysis of the Wenchuan Ms8.0 Earthquake’s Co-seismic Stress and Displacement Change by Using the Finite Element Method

The variation of in situ stress before and after earthquakes is an issue studied by geologists. In this paper, on the basis of the fault slip dislocation model of Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake, the changes of co-seismic displacement and the distribution functions of stress tensor around the Longmen Shan fault zone are calculated. The results show that the co-seismic maximum surface displacement is 4.9 m in the horizontal direction and 6.5 m in the vertical direction, which is almost consistent with the on-site survey and GPS observations. The co-seismic maximum horizontal stress in the hanging wall and footwall decreased sharply as the distance from the Longmen Shan fault zone increased. However, the vertical stress and minimum horizontal stress increased in the footwall and in some areas of the hanging wall. The study of the co-seismic displacement and stress was mainly focused on the long and narrow region along the Longmen Shan fault zone, which coincides with the distribution of the earthquake aftershocks. Therefore, the co-seismic stress only affects the aftershocks, and does not affect distant faults and seismic activities. The results are almost consistent with in situ stress measurements at the two sites before and after Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake. Along the fault plane, the co-seismic shear stress in the dip direction is larger than that in the strike direction, which indicates that the faulting mechanism of the Longmen Shan fault zone is a dominant thrust with minor strike-slipping. The results can be used as a reference value for future studies of earthquake mechanisms.     

Seismogenic Structure of the April 20, 2013, Lushan Ms7 Earthquake in Sichuan

At 08:02 on April 20, 2013, a Ms7.0 earthquake occurred in Lushan, Ya'an, in the Longmenshan fault zone, Sichuan. The epicenter was located between Taiping Town and Shuangshi Town, Lushan County and the maximum earthquake intensity at the epicenter reached class IX. Field investigations in the epicenter area found that, although buildings were seriously damaged, no obvious surface rupture structure was produced, only some ground fissures and sand blows and water ejection phenomena being seen. An integrated analysis of high-resolution remote sensing image interpretation, mainshock and aftershock distribution, and focal mechanism solutions indicated that this earthquake was an independent rupturing event in the southwestern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone, belonging to the thrust-type earthquake. Ruptures occurred along the south-central segment of the Shuangshi-Dachuan fault and the principal rupture plane dipped SW at 33-43°. It is inferred that the Lushan earthquake might be related to the ramp activity of the basal detachment zone (13-19 km) of the Longmenshan fault zone. Historically, there occurred at least two Ms6-6.5 earthquakes along the Shuangshi-Dachuan fault zone; thus it is thought that the Lushan earthquake, different from the Wenchuan earthquake, was a characteristic one in the southwestern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone. In-situ stress measurements indicated the Lushan earthquake was the result of stress release of the southwestern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone after the Wenchuan earthquake. This paper analyzes the tectonic setting of the seismogenic structure of this earthquake.     

Tectonic Stress State Changes Before and After the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 Earthquake in the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Crustal tectonic activities are essentially the consequences of the accumulation and release of in situ stress. Therefore, studying the stress state near active faults is important for understanding crustal dynamics and earthquake occurrences. In this paper, using in situ stress measurement results obtained by hydraulic fracturing in the vicinity of the Longmenshan fault zone before and after the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake and finite element modeling, the variation of stress state before and after the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake is investigated. The results show that the shear stress, which is proportional to the difference between principal stresses, increases with depth and distance from the active fault in the calm period or after the earthquakes, and tends to approach to the regional stress level outside the zone influenced by the fault. This distribution appears to gradually reverse with time and the change of fault properties such as frictional strength. With an increase in friction coefficient, low stress areas are reduced and areas with increased stress accumulation are more obvious near the fault. In sections of the fault with high frictional strengths, in situ stress clearly increases in the fault. Stress accumulates more rapidly in the fault zone relative to the surrounding areas, eventually leading to a stress field that peaks at the fault zone. Such a reversal in the stress field between the fault zone and surrounding areas in the magnitude of the stress field is a potential indicator for the occurrence of strong earthquakes.     

Seismotectonics of the 26 November 2005 Jiujiang-Ruichang, Jiangxi, Ms?5.7 Earthquake

The 26 November 2005 Jiujiang-Ruichang, Jiangxi, Ms?5.7 earthquake occurred in a seismotectonic setting of moderate earthquake. The northwest-trending Xiangfan-Guangji fault (XFG) does not enter into the epicenter vicinity, but the northeast-trending Ruichang-Wuning fault (RWF) as a regional fault extends to the epicenter nearby, appearing as the Ruichang basin and its marginal faults. Tilting of the Ruichang Basin (RCB) in the Quaternary was controlled by the RCB southeast-marginal, buried fault (RSMBF). Shallow geophysical survey reveals that the RSMBF caused an offset of the reflection layers. Drill hole columnar section demonstrates that there are about 10–12?m displacement in the lower section of the middle-Pleistocene Series along the RSMBF, but no disruption is found in the upper section of the middle-Pleistocene Series. The RSMBF not only has activity in the Quaternary, but also coincides with the nodal plane I from the focal mechanism of the Jiujiang-Ruichang Ms?5.7 earthquake. This evidence, including aftershock distribution and isoseismic lines, strongly suggests that the RSMBF might be the seismogenic tectonics. The RWF is discontinuous at the surface, and consists of three en echelon Quaternary basins, which are the Ruichang, Fanzhen and Wuning basins. Three moderate earthquakes, the Fanzhen ML?4.9 earthquake, the Yejiapu ML?4.1 earthquake and the Jiujiang-Ruichang Ms?5.7 earthquake, have happened in the basins since 1995. The seismogenic tectonics of the Jiujiang-Ruichang Ms?5.7 earthquake is not isolated, but may be controlled by the RWF at depth, the slip of which causes the accumulation of energy for earthquake occurrence.     

Environmental geology problems caused by mining activities in Panzhihua iron mine

The Panzhihua iron mine, a famous V-Ti magnetite mine in our country, is composed of the Jianshan, Lanjiahuoshan and Zhujiabaobao ore areas. It has caused many ecological problems in the Panzhihua iron mine after nearly 40 years of mining, which has severe impact on safe mining and has brought huge economic losses. This paper begins with the environmental geological problems caused by unloading （mining） and loading （mine dump） that is then resulted from mining activities. The paper then analyses and studies the cause and development of every environmental geological problem as well as the formation of geological disasters （landslip, coast and landslide） from two aspects： geological disasters and environmental geological problems caused by mining activities. Meanwhile, the paper puts forward suggestions about prevention and management of mine. It is found that material unloading in the Panzhihua iron mine has made the originally stable geological body be less stable, and has formed much disastrous slope. The resulted geological disasters include landslip, landslip, etc. Material loading, i.e. mine dump, has caused a huge artificial loose stack piled up in valleys. The steep slopes can easily result in geological disasters, such as landslip, landslide, debris flow, etc. Till now, there have been over10 times geological disasters caused by material unloading, and over 20 times caused by material loading. The economic loss has been over 0.1 billion yuan RMB. It is also found that the major impact of mining on environment is the pollution of soil and water caused by heavy metals. Besides this, powder is also another source of pollution.     

缅甸Tarlay 2011年地震与古特提斯缝合带的活动构造

An earthquake of 6.8 magnitude struck the eastern Shan State in Myanmar at 20:29:30 Myanmar Standard Time (01:55:12 PM UTC) on 24 March 2011. It is one of the earthquakes in plate-interior setting. Six after-shocks occurred the same year. The nucleation point of this earthquake was defined by an epicenter at 20 km west of Tarlay (20.705°N, 99.949°E) at a depth of 10 km and its magnitude was 6.8. The earthquake damage was disastrous. The geological disasters were linearly distributed along the surface rupture zone. The earthquake produced cracks, arch bend, erupting sand, gush water, etc. in many places. As a result of this strong earthquake, 224-305 houses were seriously damaged, 74 people were killed, 124 injured. The event was named after the nearest village Tarlay and the NE-or ENE-striking Nan Ma fault was responsible for it. A detailed morphotectonic study was carried out in the area using satellite image 1:24,000 scale aerial photographs and 1:63360 scale topographic maps, to correlate the seismicity with tectonics. It is found that there are two prominent lineaments striking in NE-or ENE- and N-S or NNE- SSW direction. The present-day deformation of the Than Lwin suture zone is consistent with roughly NW-SE extension and NE-SW striking compression, but with more conjugate strike-slip faulting and only minor normal faulting.     

RS and GIS‐based Statistical Analysis of Secondary Geological Disasters after the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake

Abstract: Using RS and GIS means, this article analyzes the general geological characteristics and the structural belt distribution features in Wenchuan County, Sichuan province, P.R. China as well as the characteristics of the large-scale landslides, mud-rock flows, earthquake lakes, etc., after the earthquake on May 12, 2008. Based on the above work, comprehensive indoor and outdoor research is launched on disaster distribution characteristics and their relationship with earthquakes, terrains, strata, lithology, and structures. Weights of evidence method is utilized to quantitatively analyze and evaluate the spatial distribution of secondary geological disasters after the earthquake occurred. 3 remedying grades for secondary geological disasters are derived from the results of the weights of Evidence, followed by suggestions given to remedy earthquake secondary disasters.     

Surface Rupture and Co-seismic Displacement Produced by the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake of May 12th, 2008, Sichuan, China: Eastwards Growth of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

An earthquake of Ms 8 struck Wenchuan County, western Sichuan, China, on May 12^th, 2008 and resulted in long surface ruptures （〉300 km）. The first-hand observations about the surface ruptures produced by the earthquake in the worst-hit areas of Yingxiu, Beichuan and Qingchuan, ascertained that the causative structure of the earthquake was in the central fault zones of the Longmenshan tectonic belt. Average co-seismic vertical displacements along the individual fault of the Yingxiu-Beiehuan rupture zone reach 2.514 m and the cumulative vertical displacements across the central and frontal Longmenshan fault belt is about 5-6 m. The surface rupture strength was reduced from north of Beichuan to Qingchuan County and shows 2-3 m dextral strike-slip component. The Wenchuan thrust-faulting earthquake is a manifestation of eastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau under the action of continuous convergence of the Indian and Eurasian continents.     

Surface Rupture and Co-seismic Displacement Produced by the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake of May 12th, 2008, Sichuan, China： Eastwards Growth of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

An earthquake of Ms 8 struck Wenchuan County,western Sichuan,China,on May 12~(th), 2008 and resulted in long surface ruptures (>300 km).The first-hand observations about the surface ruptures produced by the earthquake in the worst-hit areas of Yingxiu,Beichuan and Qingchuan, ascertained that the causative structure of the earthquake was in the central fault zones of the Longmenshan tectonic belt.Average co-seismic vertical displacements along the individual fault of the Yingxiu-Beichuan rupture zone reach 2.5-4m and the cumulative vertical displacements across the central and frontal Longmenshan fault belt is about 5-6 m.The surface rupture strength was reduced from north of Beichuan to Qingchuan County and shows 2-3 m dextral strike-slip component.The Wenchuan thrust-faulting earthquake is a manifestation of eastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau under the action of continuous convergence of the Indian and Eurasian continents.     

Dextral-Slip Thrust Faulting and Seismic Events of the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake,Longmenshan Mountains,Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Dextral-slip thrust movement of the Songpan-Garze terrain over the Sichuan block caused the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake of May 12, 2008 and offset the Central Longmenshan Fault (CLF) along a distance of-250 km. Displacement along the CLF changes from Yingxiu to Qingchuan. The total oblique slip of up to 7.6 m in Yingxiu near the epicenter of the earthquake, decreases northeastward to 5.3 m, 6.6 m, 4.4 m, 2.5 m and 1.1 m in Hongkou, Beichuan, Pingtong, Nanba and Qingchuan, respectively. This offset apparently occurred during a sequence of four reported seismic events, EQ1-EQ4, which were identified by seismic inversion of the source mechanism. These events occurred in rapid succession as the fault break propagated northeastward during the earthquake. Variations in the plunge of slickensides along the CLF appear to match these events. The Mw 7.5 EQ1 event occurred during the first 0-10 s along the Yingxiu-Hongkou section of the CLF and is characterized by 1.7 m vertical slip and vertical slickensides. The Mw 8.0 EQ2 event, which occurred during the next 10-42 s along the Yingxiu-Yanziyan section of the CLF, is marked by major dextral-slip with minor thrust and slickensides plunging 25°-35° southwestward. The Mw 7.5 EQ3 event occurred during the following 42-60 s and resulted in dextral-slip and slickensides plunging 10° southwestward in Beichuan and plunging 73° southwestward in Hongkou. The Mw 7.7 EQ4 event, which occurred during the final 60-95 s along the Beichuan-Qingchuan section of the CLF, is characterized by nearly equal values of dextral and vertical slips with slickensides plunging 45°-50° southwestward. These seismic events match and evidently controlled the concentrations of landslide dams caused by the Wenchuan earthquake in Longmenshan Mountains.     

Deep Seismogenic Environment in the Southern Section of the Longmenshan Fault Zone on the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau and Lushan Ms 7.0 Earthquake

The 2,026 earthquake events registered by the Sichuan regional digital seismic network and mobile seismic array after the April 20 th,2013 Lushan earthquake and 28,188 pieces of data were selected to determine direct P waves arrival times. We applied the tomographic method to inverse the characteristics of the velocity structure for the three-dimensional(3D) P wave in the mid-upper crust of the seismic source region of the Lushan earthquake. The imaging results were combined with the apparent magnetization inversion and magnetotelluric(MT) sounding retest data to comprehensively study the causes of the deep seismogenic environment in the southern section of the Longmenshan fault zone and explore the formation of the Lushan earthquake. Research has shown that there are obvious differences in velocity structure and magnetic distribution between the southern and northern sections of the Longmenshan fault zone. The epicenter of the Lushan earthquake is located near the boundary of the high and low-velocity anomalies and favorable for a high-velocity section. Moreover,at the epicenter of the Lushan earthquake located on the magnetic dome boundary of Ya’an,the development of high velocity and magnetic solid medium favors the accumulation and release of strain energy. Lowvelocity anomalies are distributed underneath the are of seismogenic origin,The inversion results of the MT retest data after the April 20 th Lushan earthquake also indicate that there a high-conductor anomaly occurs under the area of seismogenic origin of the Lushan earthquake,Therefore,we speculated that the presence of a high-conductivity anomaly and low-velocity anomaly underneath the seismogenic body of the Lushan earthquake could be related to the existence of fluids. The role of fluids caused the weakening of the seismogenic layer inside the mid-upper crust and resulted in a seismogenic fault that was prone to rupture and played a triggering role in the Lushan earthquake.     

Spatial and Temporal Variations in Earthquake Stress Drops between the 2008 Wenchuan and 2013 Lushan Earthquakes

As a case study of spatial and temporal variations in earthquake stress drops between the 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan and 2013 Ms 7.0 Lushan earthquakes, we computed 1828 stress-drop values for earthquakes with magnitudes 1.7 ≤ ML ≤ 5.0 during an eight-year time span before and after major earthquakes. We divide the study area into three subregions (the southern segment of the Longmen Shan fault zone; the southwestern junction of the Longmen Shan and Sichuan Basin; and the southwestern margin of the Sichuan Basin) and calculate individual event stress drops in each. The results show that regions of alternating high and low stress drop are found on either side of the southwestern segment of the Longmen Shan fault zone. During the two-year period after the 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake, the stress state of the southern Longmen Shan fault shows no significant change. A marked increase in stress level appears about 18 months before the 2013 Ms 7.0 Lushan earthquake near the Lushan hypocenter zone. Two months after the Ms 7.0 event, the stress drops suddenly attenuate, with significantly less seismic energy release per event. We find that changes in the patterns of high and low stress drop values are consistent with the process of stress accumulation or transfer from the pre-mainshock to post-mainshock periods. The results indicate that major earthquakes are the dominant cause of temporal and spatial evolution in stress levels. Stress drop variations show obvious temporal and spatial patterns that may suggests subtle changes in the character of stress fields on faults and spatial variations related to local intense compression and tectonic effects.     

Earthquake activity in mainland China, 2003： The heaviest damage caused since 1977

The earthquake activity and damage in mainland China in 2003 are reviewed. There were 27 earthquakes with a magnitude of over 5.0, resulting in 319 people killed and 7147 people injured. The total economic loss of over 560 million US dollars represents the highest figure for mainland China since 1977, and it is comparable to the total loss during one decade in the 1980‘s. For the first time China International Search and Rescue(CISAR) teams were dispatched to disaster areas in China, Algeria and lran.     

Analysis of Remote Sensing Images of Ground Ruptures Resulting from the Kunlun Mountain Pass Earthquake in 2001

1 IntroductionOn November 14, 2001, a large earthquake of M-8.1(magnitude of 8.1) occurred to the west of the KunlunMountain Pass which bounds Xinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion and Qinghai Province. The Chinese seismicnetwork measured the epicenter of this event to be locatedat 36.2°N, 90.9°E, 350 km away from Golmud City ofQinghai and 400 km from Ruoqiang County of Xinjiang.This is the largest earthquake in the Chinese mainland sincethe M-8.0 earthquake occurring in Damxung of Tibet…     

Geohazards Induced by the Lushan Ms7.0 Earthquake in Sichuan Province, Southwest China:Typical Examples, Types and Distributional Characteristics

Geohazards induced by the Lushan Ms 7.0 earthquake on April 20, 2013 mainly have four types: collapse, landslide, slope debris flow, and sand-soil liquefaction. These geohazards mainly occurred near the epicenter, on steep slopes or below cliffs in high mountain and deep valley areas, and at or near fault ends. They have no obvious relationships to active faults, but their relationships to the weathering degree and structures of rock and rock mass are obvious. Compared with the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008, the Lushan earthquake is relatively little in the impact force and the throwing amount. All of these should be related to the magnitude of this earthquake, not very large but not very little. This character of the Lushan earthquake would make some processes uncompleted so as to bring about some concealed geohazards. Finally, in order to deal with challenges presented by such conceal geohazards, some brief recommendations are put forward.     

Dextral‐Slip Thrust Faulting and Seismic Events of the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake,Longmenshan Mountains,Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract: Dextral-slip thrust movement of the Songpan-Garzê terrain over the Sichuan block caused the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake of May 12, 2008 and offset the Central Longmenshan Fault (CLF) along a distance of ~250 km. Displacement along the CLF changes from Yingxiu to Qingchuan. The total oblique slip of up to 7.6 m in Yingxiu near the epicenter of the earthquake, decreases northeastward to 5.3 m, 6.6 m, 4.4 m, 2.5 m and 1.1 m in Hongkou, Beichuan, Pingtong, Nanba and Qingchuan, respectively. This offset apparently occurred during a sequence of four reported seismic events, EQ1–EQ4, which were identified by seismic inversion of the source mechanism. These events occurred in rapid succession as the fault break propagated northeastward during the earthquake. Variations in the plunge of slickensides along the CLF appear to match these events. The Mw 7.5 EQ1 event occurred during the first 0–10 s along the Yingxiu-Hongkou section of the CLF and is characterized by 1.7 m vertical slip and vertical slickensides. The Mw 8.0 EQ2 event, which occurred during the next 10–42 s along the Yingxiu-Yanziyan section of the CLF, is marked by major dextral-slip with minor thrust and slickensides plunging 25°–35° southwestward. The Mw 7.5 EQ3 event occurred during the following 42–60 s and resulted in dextral-slip and slickensides plunging 10° southwestward in Beichuan and plunging 73° southwestward in Hongkou. The Mw 7.7 EQ4 event, which occurred during the final 60–95 s along the Beichuan-Qingchuan section of the CLF, is characterized by nearly equal values of dextral and vertical slips with slickensides plunging 45°–50° southwestward. These seismic events match and evidently controlled the concentrations of landslide dams caused by the Wenchuan earthquake in Longmenshan Mountains.     

Assessment of Geological Security and Integrated Assessment Geo‐environmental Suitability in Worst‐hit Areas in Wenchuan Quake

Abstract: The Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 and geo-hazards triggered by the earthquake caused large injuries and deaths as well as destructive damage for infrastructures like construction, traffic and electricity. It is urgent to select relatively secure areas for townships and cities constructed in high mountainous regions with high magnitude earthquakes. This paper presents the basic thoughts, evaluation indices and evaluation methods of geological security evaluation, water and land resources security demonstration and integrated assessments of geo-environmental suitability for reconstruction in alp and ravine with high magnitude earthquakes, which are applied in the worst-hit areas (12 counties). The integrated assessment shows that: (1) located in the Longmenshan fault zone, the evaluated area is of poor regional crust stability, in which the unstable and second unstable areas account for 79% of the total; (2) the geo-hazards susceptibility is high in the evaluation area. The spots of geo-hazards triggered by earthquake are mainly distributed along the active fault zone with higher distribution in the moderate and high mountains area, in which the areas of high and moderate susceptibility zoning accounts for 40.1% of the total; (3) geological security is poor in the evaluated area, in which the area of the unsuitable construction occupies 73.1%, whereas in the suitable construction area, the areas of geological security, second security and insecurity zoning account for 8.3%, 9.3% and 9.3% of the evaluated area respectively; (4) geo-environmental suitability is poor in the evaluated area , in which the areas of suitability and basic suitability zoning account for 3.5% and 7.3% of the whole evaluation area.