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1948 Litang earthquake

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1948 Litang earthquake
1948 Litang earthquake is located in Sichuan
1948 Litang earthquake
UTC time1948-05-25 07:11:34
ISC event897351
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local dateMay 25, 1948 (1948-05-25)
Local time15:11:34
MagnitudeMw 7.2[1]
Depth18 km
Epicenter29°30′N 100°30′E / 29.5°N 100.5°E / 29.5; 100.5[1]
Areas affectedChina
Max. intensityMMI X (Extreme)
Casualties800

The 1948 Litang earthquake (1948年理塘地震) occurred on May 28, 1948, at 07:11 UTC. It was located near Litang, China. Now situated in the Sichuan Province, Litang County was then called Lihua (or Lihwa) (理化) County and belonged to the defunct Xikang (or Sikang) Province. The earthquake had a magnitude of Mw 7.2,[1] or Ms 7.3.[2]

This earthquake caused more than 800 deaths. More than 600 houses collapsed in the areas around Litang and Daocheng. Landslides, ground fissures and sandblows occurred in the region. The intensity of the earthquake reached MM X.[2] Some of the aftershocks caused additional damage.[3]

The earthquake occurred in the middle segment between Litang and Dewu (德巫) of the Litang-Dewu fault zone (理塘-德巫断裂带).[4] Litang Fault, situated in the Sichuan-Yunnan rhombic block (川滇菱形块体), is a NW-trending fault and dominated mainly by left-lateral shear movement. The average horizontal slip rate of the Litang Fault is about 3.2 to 4.4 mm/yr on the Litang-Dewu segment and about 2.6 to 3.0 mm/yr on the segment to the north of Litang.[5] A study of Wang et al. estimated that the Litang fault has a left-lateral strike-slip rate of 4.4±1.3 mm/yr and an extension rate of 2.7±1.1 mm/yr.[6] The focal mechanism was recognized to be a left-lateral slip on a plane striking northwest (315°) for a distance of about 75 km. The released seismic moment was estimated to be about 7.4×1019 Nm.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Engdahl, E. R.; Vallaseñor, A. (2002). "Global seismicity: 1900–1999" (PDF). International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology. Part A, Volume 81A (First ed.). Academic Press. p. 679. ISBN 978-0124406520.
  2. ^ a b National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) (1972), Significant Earthquake Database (Data Set), National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
  3. ^ "Today in Earthquake History". United States Geological Survey.
  4. ^ "国家地震科学数据共享中心". csi.ac.cn. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-09-12.
  5. ^ "四川西部理塘—巴塘地区的活动断裂与1989年巴塘6.7级震群发震构造研究" by 周荣军, 陈国星, 李勇, 周朝晖, 龚宇, 何玉林, and 黎小刚
  6. ^ "基于GPS 资料约束反演川滇地区主要断裂现今活动速率" by 王阎昭, 王恩宁, 沈正康, 王敏, 甘卫军, 乔学军, 孟国杰, 李铁明, 陶玮, 杨永林, 程佳, and 李鹏
  7. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-23. Retrieved 2020-05-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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