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.

Characteristics of Energy Accumulation and Release of Seismogenic Tectonics and Seismic Risk Analysis in Some Areas in the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang

Comparative analysis between the quantitative data of active faults and seismicity reveals that a complete earthquake recurrence cycle includes the characteristic earthquake and the sub-maxima earthquakes in-between. The magnitude of the sub-maxima events is correlated with the elapsed time of the characteristic earthquake and the slip rate of the fault. The fault displacement includes the major stick-slip generated by the characteristic earthquakes and the minor stick-slip by the sub-maxima ones. The magnitude-frequency relationship still works in the complete recurrence cycle. The energy accumulation in the cycle is divided approximately into four phases, and the seismicity differs at each phase. The relation of the maximum displacement with the average displacement of the characteristic earthquake suggests the partitioning of deformation between the characteristic and the sub-maxima earthquakes. Based on the above analysis, relevant mathematical equations are put forward for the quantitative assessment of the potential magnitude and earthquake risk of seismogenic tectonics. Tentative study has been carried out in this aspect in some areas of Tianshan.

Activity of the Lenglongling fault system and seismotectonics of the 2016 MS6.4 Menyuan earthquake

The MS6.4 Menyuan earthquake occurred on the northern side of the Lenglongling fault(LLLF) in the mid-western of the Qilian-Haiyuan fault zone on January 21, 2016. The earthquake epicenter was distant from the Minle-Damaying and Huangcheng-Shuangta faults, eastern of the Northern Qilian Shan fault zone. A near northwest-striking rupture plane intersects the two faults at a certain angle. The focal mechanism solution shows that this was a thrust-type earthquake, slightly different from the strike-slip movement with a thrust component of the LLLF. Field geological mapping, tectonic geomorphology analysis, trench excavation and 14 C dating reveal that(1) the LLLF has been obviously active since the Holocene, and may behave with characteristic slip behavior and produce M_W7.3–7.5 earthquakes;(2) the LLLF appears as a flower structure in terms of structure style, and dips NNE at a steep angle; and(3) the most recent earthquake event occurred after 1815–1065 a BP. An associated fault, the Northern Lenglongling fault(NLLLF), is located at the northwestern end of the LLLF. Consequently, the NLLLF was continually subject to tectonic pushing effects from the left-lateral shear at the end of the LLLF, and, accordingly, it bent and rotated outward tectonically.Subsequently, the fault deviated from the dominant rupture azimuth and activity weakened. In the late Quaternary, it behaved as a thrust fault with no obvious deformation at the surface. This is indicated by the arc shape, with a micro-protrusion northeastward,and no geologic or geomorphic signs of surface rupturing since the late Quaternary. However, such faults could still rupture at depth, producing moderate-strong earthquakes. The geometric and kinematic properties of the NLLLF are in good agreement with the occurrence and kinematic properties of nodal plane 2, and with the distribution characteristics of the aftershocks and seismic intensity. Therefore, the NLLLF is a more suitable seismogenic structure for the MS 6.4 Menyuan earthquake. In addition, the thrust movement of the NLLLF accommodates subsequent movement of the LLLF. During the historical evolution of the NLLLF,the LLLF and the NLLLF have affected the local topography through tectonic uplift.