Tectonic setting of the seismogeny of the 1976 Tangshan, China M =7.8 earthquake

Based on the analysis of multi-temporal and multi-spectral satellite images for North China region, we have found that one year and more before the occurrence of 1976 Tangshan earthquake, the anomalies of electro-magnetic radiation on the satellite images indicated that the NE-trending Tangshan fault zone was dissected by the NNW-trending Nantai-Tangshan fault, and the Changping-Fengnan fault was dragged to form an arcuate bending at Fengnan. All these indicate the right-lateral translation along the Tangshan fault in NE direction. In order to gain an insight into the features of these faults, a shallow seismic exploration along the Tangshan and Changping-Fengnan faults has been carried out. The results have indicated that the NE-trending Tangshan fault is a high angle right-lateral strike-slip normal fault, dipping northwest, while the NWW-trending Changping-Fengnan fault is a southwest-dipping left-lateral strike-slip normal fault.