Geodynamic and seismotectonic activity of the Eastern Tibet at the beginning of 21st century

Shen Tuo, E.A. Rogozhin

Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Abstract. At the beginning of the 21st century, in the northeastern Tibet, a series of strongest earthquakes was recorded along the periphery of the Bayan-Kara lithospheric block: on November 14, 2001, an earthquake with M_S = 8.1 was recorded in the Kunlun mountains in the zone of the East Kunlun fault, at which an extended Seismic disruption in the form of a left-hand shift; On May 12, 2008, an earthquake with M_S = 8 occurred in Wenchuan city, which caused a long over-thrust in the Longmanshan fault zone; April 14, 2010 in Yushu city, there was also aearthquake with M_S = 7.1. Its epicenter is located in the zone of the Grazze-Yushu-Funchuoshan fault, and a left-sided shift is formed on the surface; On April 20, 2013, nearby the city Lushan, there is an earthquake with M_S = 7, the epicenter of which was located in the zone of the Lunmanshan fault, 103 km south-west of the zone of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake; Finally, on April 25, 2015, an earthquake with M_S = 8.2 occurred in Nepal. According to the seismic catalog (CSN), the energy of all earthquakes for the Eastern Tibet region occurred at the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that in 1980–2000, in Tibet there was a seismic calm. The beginning of the 21st century to the present time was marked by seismic activation. Focal zones of earthquakes of this period of activation migrate from the north to the south, encircling the Bayankara lithospheric block from all sides. Thus, this block can be qualified as one of the most seismically active regions of China.

Keywords: Bayankara block, Himalayas, North-Eastern Tibet, epicenter, earthquake, migration, seismic fault.

About the authors

ROGOZHIN E.A. – dr. in geol.-min. sci., professor, deputy director, Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (499) 254-87-15. E-mail: eurog@ifz.ru

SHEN Tuo – post-graduate student, Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (968) 906-88-37. E-mail: 283473562@qq.com

Cite this article as: Shen Tuo, Rogozhin E.A. Geodynamic and seismotectonic activity of the Eastern Tibet at the beginning of 21st century, Voprosy Inzhenernoi Seismologii (Problems of Engineering Seismology), 2017, Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 29–50. [in Russian]. DOI: 10.21455/VIS2017.4-2

English translation of the article will be published in Seismic Instruments, ISSN: 0747-9239 (Print) 1934-7871 (Online), https://link.springer.com/journal/11990), 2018, Volume 54, Issue 4.