2001 Kunlun earthquake

2001 earthquake in western China February 2020 2001 Kunlun earthquake 2001-11-14 09:26:10 usp000asvm 2331800 200px China Qinghai#China yes 2001 11 14 17:26 7.8 Mw8.1 s yThe 14 November 2001, Mw = 7.8 Kokoxili Earthquake in Northern Tibet (Qinghai Province, China) https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/srl/article-abstract/73/2/125/142737/The-14-November-2001-Mw-7-8-Kokoxili-Earthquake-in?redirectedFrom=fulltext 25 February 2025 J. van de Woerd A.-S. Mériaux Y. Klinger F. Ryerson Y. Gaudemer P. Tapponnier 10.1785/gssrl.73.2.125 Seismological Research Letters 73 2 March–April 2002 subscription 15 km XEXPO-CAT Earthquake Catalog https://earthquake.usgs.gov/static/lfs/data/pager/catalogs/ December 1, 2008 United States Geological Survey Version 2007-12 9 February 2025 Strike-slip, Supershear earthquake Kunlun Fault 36 12 N 90 54 E China none An earthquake occurred in China on 14 November 2001 at 09:26 UTC (17:26 local time), with an epicenter near Kokoxili, close to the border between Qinghai and Xinjiang in a remote mountainous region. With a magnitude of 7.8 Mw (8.1 s y), it was the most powerful earthquake in China in 5 decades. Li Li Chen Yong 2002 Preliminary report on the Ms 8.1 Kokoxili (Qinghai, China) earthquake of 14 November 2001 Episodes 25 2 95–99 10.18814/epiiugs/2002/v25i2/005 free No casualties were reported, presumably due to the very low population density and the lack of high-rise buildings. This earthquake was associated with the longest surface rupture ever recorded on land at the time, ~450 km.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/244485209 Klinger, Y. Xu, X. Tapponnier, P. Van der Woerd, J. Lasserre, C. Geoffrey King, G. 2005 High-Resolution Satellite Imagery Mapping of the Surface Rupture and Slip Distribution of the Mw _7.8, 14 November 2001 Kokoxili Earthquake, Kunlun Fault, Northern Tibet, China Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 95 5 1970–1987 10.1785/0120040233 2005BuSSA..95.1970K Tectonic setting The Kunlun fault is one of the major sinistral strike-slip structures that accommodate the eastward motion of the Tibetan Plateau relative to the Eurasian plate. This motion is caused by the lateral spreading of the zone of thickened crust associated with the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. http://eost.unistra.fr/fileadmin/upload/EOST/Jeromevdw/publications/vdWoerd_et_al._SRL2002.pdf Van Der Woerd J. Meriaux, A.S. Klinger, Y. Ryerson, F.J. Gaudemer, Y. Tapponnier, P. 2002 The 14 November 2001, Mw 7.8 Kokoxili earthquake in northern Tibet (Qinghai Province, China) Seismological Research Letters 73 2 125–135 10.1785/gssrl.73.2.125 2002SeiRL..73..125V 30 January 2019 1 September 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200901174057/http://eost.unistra.fr/fileadmin/upload/EOST/Jeromevdw/publications/vdWoerd_et_al._SRL2002.pdf dead Earthquake thumb|260px|Major fault zones around the Tibetan Plateau showing location of Kunlun fault The earthquake rupture began on a relatively small strike-slip fault segment at the western end of the Kunlun fault in the region of the mountain Buka Daban Feng. The rupture propagated to the east via an extensional stepover before following the main strand of the Kunlun fault. The region of co-seismic deformation (i.e. that occurred during the earthquake) is unusually large, with significant faulting being observed up to 60 km from the main rupture trace.Co-seismic ruptures found up to 60 km south of the Kunlun fault after 14 November 2001, Ms 8.1, Kokoxili earthquake using Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery J. G. Liu C. E. Haselwimmer 2006 International Journal of Remote Sensing 27 20 4461–4470 10.1080/01431160600784283 2006IJRS...27.4461L 140636365 This deformation occurs in two swathes, ca. 20 and 60 km from the main fault trace. Pre-existing lineaments and geomorphological features suggest that this earthquake-triggered displacement occurred on existing faults. The co-seismic surface rupture extended for more than 400 km, making it the longest zone of co-seismic surface rupture so far observed.Fu B. Lin A. 2003 Spatial distribution of the surface rupture zone associated with the 2001 Ms 8.1 Central Kunlun earthquake, northern Tibet, revealed by satellite remote sensing data https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252578588 International Journal of Remote Sensing 24 10 2191–2198 10.1080/0143116031000075918 2003IJRS...24.2191F 128499961 An analysis of the propagation speed indicates that the rupture propagated at a normal velocity along the original segment, but increased in velocity to above the S wave velocity after the jump across the extensional stepover and continued at that speed until propagation stopped.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10622001 Bouchon, M. Vallee, M. 2003 Observation of Long Supershear Rupture During the Magnitude 8.1 Kunlunshan Earthquake Science 301 5634 824–6 10.1126/science.1086832 12907799 2003Sci...301..824B 26437293 This makes the Kunlun earthquake the best documented example of a supershear earthquake. It has been suggested that the unusually wide zone of co-seismic deformation is a direct result of the supershear rupture propagation.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5320830 The Aftershock Signature of Supershear Earthquakes Michel Bouchon Hayrullah Karabulut, H. 6 June 2008 Science 320 5881 1323–1325 10.1126/science.1155030 18535239 2008Sci...320.1323B 206511510 Damage Due to the remoteness of the region, most reports of damage came from areas hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter. The nearest population centre, the city of Golmud, reported severe shaking but no buildings collapsed. Some damage was reported at the construction site for the Qinghai–Tibet railway and along the Qinghai–Tibet highway. See also List of earthquakes in 2001 List of earthquakes in China References External links 2331800 2001 Kunlun Category:Earthquakes in Qinghai Kunlun Kunlun Earthquake, 2001 Category:Supershear earthquakes