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.

Synthetic aperture radar interferometry—based coseismic deformation and slip distribution of the 2022 Menyuan MS6.9 earthquake in Qinghai,China

On January 8,2022,a 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred in Menyuan County,Qinghai Province,with the epicenter located at the intersection of the Tuolaishan Fault and the Lenglongling Fault,which are part of the Qilian—Haiyuan fault zone.This study investigated the sliding characteristics and seismic mechanism of the earthquake to understand the activity and seismic risk of the fault on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai—Tibet Plateau.This paper analyzed Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar images to obtain the coseismic deformation field of the earthquake,which was then used to invert the slip distribution of the seismogenic fault and the coseismic Coulomb stress on the surrounding faults caused by the earthquake.It was found that the earthquake was primarily characterized by sinistral strike-slip movement.Along the satellite line of sight,the south wall of the fault had a maximum deformation of 0.62 m,and the north wall had a maximum deformation of 0.48 m.The coseismic slip distribution results indicated that the maximum slip of the earthquake was 4.51 m,and the moment magnitude was MW6.7.The Coulomb stress analysis showed that the 2016 Menyuan earthquake promoted the occurrence of the 2022Menyuan earthquake.

High-precision relocation of the aftershock sequence of the January 8,2022,M_(S)6.9 Menyuan earthquake

The 2022 Menyuan M_(S)6.9 earthquake,which occurred on January 8,is the most destructive earthquake to occur near the Lenglongling(LLL)fault since the 2016 Menyuan M_(S)6.4 earthquake.We relocated the mainshock and aftershocks with phase arrival time observations for three days after the mainshock from the Qinghai Seismic Network using the double-difference method.The total length and width of the aftershock sequence are approximately 32 km and 5 km,respectively,and the aftershocks are mainly concentrated at a depth of 7-12 km.The relocated sequence can be divided into 18 km west and 13 km east segments with a boundary approximately 5 km east of the mainshock,where aftershocks are sparse.The east and west fault structures revealed by aftershock locations differ significantly.The west fault strikes EW and inclines to the south at a 71°-90°angle,whereas the east fault strikes 133°and has a smaller dip angle.Elastic strain accumulates at conjunctions of faults with different slip rates where it is prone to large earthquakes.Based on surface traces of faults,the distribution of relocated earthquake sequence and surface ruptures,the mainshock was determined to have occurred at the conjunction of the Tuolaishan(TLS)fault and LLL fault,and the west and east segments of the aftershock sequence were on the TLS fault and LLL fault,respectively.Aftershocks migrate in the early and late stages of the earthquake sequence.In the first 1.5 h after the mainshock,aftershocks expand westward from the mainshock.In the late stage,seismicity on the northeast side of the east fault is higher than that in other regions.The migration rate of the west segment of the aftershock sequence is approximately 4.5 km/decade and the afterslip may exist in the source region.

Gravity variations before the Menyuan Ms6.4 earthquake

In order to study the relationship between gravity variation and Menyuan Ms6.4 earth- quake, gravity variation characteristics in mid-eastern of Qilian Mountain were analyzed based on the 2012-2015 relative gravity datasets. The results indicated that the gravity changes in mid-eastern of Qilian Mountain increased gradually, while gravity changes around Menyuan remarkably. Besides, great positive-negative gravity changing gradients appeared along the Lengiongling Fault which was located at the north of Menyuan, and the 2016 Menyuan Ms6.4 earthquake occurred near the junction of positive and negative gravity changes.

Dynamic evolution of crustal horizontal deformation before the Ms6.4 Menyuan earthquake

An Ms6.4 earthquake occurred in the Menyuan county of Qinghai Province on Jan 21, 2016. In order to recognize the development of horizontal deformation and distinguish precursory deformation anomalies, we obtained coordinates time series, velocity and strain model around the seismic zones from processing of continuous observations from 2010 and 6 times of surveying Global Positioning System （GPS） data since 2009. The results show that, before the earthquake, the eastern segmentation of the Qilian tectonic zone where the Lenglongling Fault located is in strong crustal shortening and compressional strain state with dilatational rates of -15 to -25 ppb. The Lenglongling Fault has a strike-slip rate of 3.1 mm/a and a far-field differential orthogonal rate of 7 mm/a, while differential rate is only 1.2 mm/a near the fault, which reflects its locking feature with strain energy accumulation and high seismic risks. Dynamic evolution of deformation model shows that preevent dilatational rates around the seismic zones increases from 15 ppb/a to -20 ppb/a with its center moving to the source areas. Time series of N components of G337 station, which is 13.7 km away from the Lenglongling Fault, exhibit a 5 mm/a acceleration anomaly. Time series of base-station QHME （in Menyuan） displays a reverse acceleration from the end of Sep. to Dec., 2016 when it comes to a largest deviation, and the accumulative displacement is more than 4 mm and the value reverse till the earthquake. In our results, coseismic displacement of N, E, U components in QHME site are 3.0 mm, 3.0 mm, -5.4 mm, respectively. If we profile these values onto the Lenglongling Fault, we can achieve a 1.1 mm of strike slip and 4.1 mm updip slip relative to the hanging wall.