The July 11, 1995 Myanmar–China earthquake: A representative event in the bookshelf faulting system of southeastern Asia observed from JERS-1 SAR images

Abstract

On July 11, 1995, an Mw 6.8 earthquake struck eastern Myanmar near the Chinese border; hereafter referred to as the 1995 Myanmar–China earthquake. Coseismic surface displacements associated with this event are identified from JERS-1 (Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1) SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) images. The largest relative displacement reached 60cm in the line-of-sight direction. We speculate that a previously unrecognized dextral strike-slip subvertical fault striking NW–SE was responsible for this event. The coseismic slip distribution on the fault planes is inverted based on the InSAR-derived deformation. The results indicate that the fault slip was confined to two lobes. The maximum slip reached approximately 2.5m at a depth of 5km in the northwestern part of the focal region. The inverted geodetic moment was approximately Mw=6.69, which is consistent with seismological results. The 1995 Myanmar–China earthquake is one of the largest recorded earthquakes that has occurred around the “bookshelf faulting” system between the Sagaing fault in Myanmar and the Red River fault in southwestern China.