Abstract
The MS6.4 earthquake occurred in Yangbi County, Yunnan Province, China, on 21 May, 2021. The earthquake is located on the west side of the Red River fault, the western boundary of the Sichuan-Yunnan block in the SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The Yangbi MS6.4 earthquake has aroused great concern due to its unique geographical location and frequent strong earthquakes in Yunnan. In this study, a total of 4695 local earthquakes of the Yangbi MS6.4 earthquake sequence are relocated using the double-difference location method, including the mainshock source location of 99.879°E, 25.687°N, and depth of 9.67 km. The mainshock has a moment magnitude of 6.1, and one of the fault-plane solutions is 137°, 83° and − 163° in strike, dip, rake respectively. Combined with the relocation and focal mechanism solutions results, it is suggested that the seismogenic fault of the Yangbi MS6.4 earthquake is a NW-SE trending fault on the southwest side of the Weixi-Qiaohou fault (WQF), with high dip of SW, which is a previously-unknown blind fault. The regional 2D stress field shows that the principal compressive stress around the Yangbi earthquake is NNW-SSE and nearly N-S direction, which appears to be deflected counterclockwise by a small angle on its east side and changed to N-S and NNE-SSW direction on its west side, while both the north and south sides of the Yangbi earthquake show directional coherence. Strong differential deformation distorts in the upper crust to the northeast of the seismic source as reflected by tectonic stress field and the upper crust seismic anisotropy, indicating strong influence of Lijiang-Xiaojinhe fault (LXF). The stress field in the source area is jointly controlled by southeastward movement of southeastern margin of Tibetan Plateau, the northeastward movement of Indian plate and the differential movement between the different tectonic blocks.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
