Characteristics of Late-Quaternary Activity and Seismic Risk of the Northeastern Section of the Longmenshan Fault Zone

Following the 2008 Wenchuan M8 earthquake, the seismic risk of the northeastern section of the Longmenshan fault zone and the adjacent Hanzhong basin has become an issue that receives much concern. It is facing, however, the problem of a lack of sufficient data because of little previous work in these regions. The northeastern section of the Longmenshan fault zone includes three major faults: the Qingchuan fault, Chaba‐Lin'ansi fault, and Liangshan south margin fault, with the Hanzhong basin at the northern end. This paper presents investigations of the geometry, motion nature, and activity ages of these three faults, and reveals that they are strike slip with normal faulting, with latest activity in the Late Pleistocene. It implies that this section of the Longmenshan fault zone has been in an extensional setting, probably associated with the influence of the Hanzhong basin. Through analysis of the tectonic relationship between the Longmenshan fault zone and the Hanzhong basin, this work verifies that the Qingchuan fault played an important role in the evolution of the Hanzhong basin, and further studies the evolution model of this basin. Finally, with consideration of the tectonic setting of the Longmenshan fault zone and the Hanzhong basin as well as seismicity of surrounding areas, this work suggests that this region has no tectonic conditions for great earthquakes and only potential strong events in the future.