The Two-dimensional Time Coordinate System and Time Prediction Research of M≥6.7 Strong Earthquakes in the Sichuan-Yunnan Region

Since the 20 thcentury,the time intervals of M ≥6.7 strong earthquakes in the SichuanYunnan region show obvious regularity.Using the years of the strong events,a twodimensional time coordinate system is generated,based on which,the time prediction model is constructed for strong earthquakes in the Sichuan-Yunnan region.Prediction analysis shows that there is risk of generating four earthquakes with M ≥ 6.7 in the Sichuan-Yunnan region in the future 16 years,and there are strong signals for M ≥6.7earthquakes for periods 2012-2021 and 2025-2029.The strong earthquakes may occur around 2014-2015,2019 and 2027.

Study on Medium- and Long-term Strong Earthquake Risk Along the Zhangjiakou-Penglai Fault Zone

The Zhangjiakou-Penglai fault zone lies in the northern part of North China Plain and extends along the Zhangjiakou-Huailai-Sanhe-Tianjin-Bohai Sea-Penglai-Yantai-North Huanghai Sea line, it is about 900 km long and some 250-km wide in a northwest direction. The 1679 Sanhe-Pinggu M 8.0 and the 1976 Tangshan M7.8 earthquakes occurred in the fault zone. In this paper an analysis of Gutenberg- Richter’s empirical relation and time process of historic and recent earthquakes along the eastern and western segments of the fault zone separated by the 117°line indicates that they obey a Poison process and, hence, a calculation from it yields a cumulative probability of strong earthquake occurrence along the two segments before 2010, i. e. the probability of M6.0 earthquake occurrence is 0.80 along the eastern segment and the probability of M7. 0 earthquake occurrence is 0.76 along the western segment of the fault zone.

The dawn of successful prediction of major earthquakes

Since 1949, Chinese scientists have successfully predicted occurrence of many major earthquakes, such as the Haicheng MT. 3 event in 1975 and the Asian Game Village shock of 1990. In recent 20 years, however, some seis-mologists abroad have taken a disappointed and pessimistic view to earthquake prediction because of several failures. They suggest that the efforts should turn toward other fields, such as identification of building＇ s earthquake-proof capability, enhancement of house strength, and development of precise observational systems which will facilitate fast loca- ting of future major temblors and emergent relief on site. Such a pessimistic feeling has also influenced some Chinese researchers of the seismological community who attempted to give up efforts for earthquake prediction. Meanwhile other scientific workers are insisting in experiments and practices in this field and achieved some inspiring results. In this paper, we present several representative cases to illustrate that earthquakes are predictable under some conditions.

Anomalies of Precursory Group and Grouped Strong Earthquakes in the Sichuan-Yunnan Region

Three methods of extracting the information of anomalies of a precursory group are put forward, i.e., the mathematical analyses of the synthetic information of earthquake precursors (S), the inhomogeneous degree of precursory groups (ID) and the values of short-term and impending anomaly in near-source area (NS). Using these methods, we calculate the observational data of deformation, underground fluid and hydrochemical constituents obtained from different seismic stations in the Sichuan-Yunnan region and conclude that the synthetic precursory anomalies of a single strong earthquake with M S6.0 differ greatly from those of the grouped strong earthquakes, for the anomalous information of precursory groups are more abundant. The three methods of extracting the synthetic precursory anomaly and the related numerical results can be applied into the practice of prediction to the grouped strong earthquakes in the Sichuan-Yunnan region. Inhomogeneous degree (ID) of synthetic precursory anomaly can be identified automatically because it takes the threshold of distributive characteristics of the anomalies of precursory group as its criterion for anomaly.

Quantitative analysis on tectonic deformation of active rupture zones

Based on the regional GPS data of high spatial resolution, we present a method of quantitative analysis on the tectonic deformation of active rupture zones in order to predict the location of forthcoming major earthquakes. Firstly we divide the main fault area into certain deformation units, then derive the geometric deformation and relative dislocation parameters of each unit and finally estimate quantitatively the slip and strain rates in each segment of the rupture zone. Furthermore, by comparing the consistency of deformation in all segments of the whole rupture zone, we can determine the possible anomalous segments as well as their properties and amplitudes. In analyzing the eastern boundaries of Sichuan-Yunnan block with the GPS velocity data for the period of 1991-2001, we have discovered that the Mianning-Ningnan-Dongchuan segment on the Zemuhe-Xiaojiang fault zone is relatively locked and the left-lateral shear strain rate here is higher.