2023 Jishishan earthquake

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2023 Jishishan earthquake
File:2023 Jishishan Earthquake aftermath CNS screenshot.jpg
Damaged buildings in Jishishan after the earthquake
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Magnitude ṃ 6.2, ṃ 6.1, ṃ 5.9
Depth 10 km (6 mi)
Epicenter Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Type Thrust
Areas affected Gansu Province and Qinghai Province, China
Max. intensity VIII (Severe)
Casualties 127 dead, 734 injured, 20 missing

On 18 December 2023 at 23:59 CST, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9–6.2 struck Jishishan County in Gansu Province, China.[1] The shallow thrust faulting earthquake struck a densely populated area on the border between Gansu and Qinghai provinces. At least 127 people were killed, 734 injured and 20 people were missing in both provinces.

Tectonic setting

The Jishi Shan range lies in the easternmost segment of the Qilian Mountains that form part of the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The plateau is a thickened zone of continental crust formed as a result of the ongoing collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate.[1] The plateau continues to be pushed northwards, while spreading laterally, causing the development of a combination of large left-lateral strike-slip faults and zone of thrust faulting. The NNW–SSE trending Jishi Shan range is bounded on both sides by faults that show evidence of both thrusting and strike-slip. Based on GPS observations, the most active of these structures is the eastern marginal fault, with estimated displacement rates of about 1 mm per year both for strike-slip and shortening.[2]

The Qilian Mountains have been the location for many large and damaging historical earthquakes. The largest of these was a ṃ 7.7 earthquake in 1927 to the north that killed 40,000 people. The earthquake was the result of thrust faulting and brought extreme damage in the Gulang–Wuwei area and triggered damaging landslides. Gansu was also affected by another earthquake in 1920, a result of strike-slip faulting, which killed 200,000 people; often regarded as among the deadliest earthquakes of the 20th century. In April 1990, a ṃ 6.5 earthquake, immediately preceded by a ṃ 6.3 foreshock and followed by a ṃ 6.3 aftershock, led to at least 126 fatalities and extensive damage and landslides.[3]

Earthquake-related losses in China are common, even for moderate magnitude earthquakes, owing to the proximity of large population centers to shaking, the prevalence of structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, and the occurrence of landslides in steep topography.[1]

Earthquake

The China Earthquake Administration recorded the earthquake at 6.2 on the surface-wave magnitude scale.[4] The United States Geological Survey said it measured ṃ 5.9 and struck at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi).[1] The epicenter was estimated to be in Liugou Township,[5] in the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture.[6] The Global Centroid Moment Tensor registered the shock at ṃ 6.1 at 18.9 km (11.7 mi) depth.[7] Shaking was reported to have lasted for nearly 20 seconds[8] and was felt by residents as far as Xi'an, 570 km away in Shaanxi province.[9] At least nine aftershocks were recorded after the mainshock, with the largest registering a magnitude of 4.1.[10]

The earthquake occurred as a result of reverse faulting at shallow depth. It ruptured either along a north-striking, steeply dipping, reverse fault or a south-southeast striking, shallowing-dipping, reverse fault. The region where the earthquake occurred is an intraplate region located on the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, a high topographic region north of the Himalayas that developed in response to ongoing collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates.[1]

According to a professor at the China University of Geosciences, Xu Xiwei, the earthquake was associated with a fault along the northern edge of the Laji Mountain range.[11] The China Earthquake Networks Center said the seismic sequence was consistent with a mainshock–aftershock type event. Within 200 km (120 mi) of the earthquake's epicenter, only three earthquakes greater than magnitude 6.0 have occurred.[12] In 1936, a ṃ 6.8 earthquake caused significant destruction and deaths in Kangle County, Gansu.[13]

Impact

At least 127 deaths and 734 injuries were recorded; 114 people were killed and 536 were injured in Gansu.[14] Fourteen deaths, 198 injuries[15] and 20 missing people were reported in neighbouring Qinghai province.[16][17] The missing were believed to have been buried in a landslide.[10] Eleven of the deaths and about 100 injuries occurred in Haidong.[18] At least 16 of the injured were said to be in critical condition.[19] The earthquake was considered to be the deadliest to hit China since the 2014 Ludian earthquake.[20] Li Haibing, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, attributed the casualties and damage from the earthquake to its timing, shallow depth, vertical movement, and the low quality of building materials in the area.[21]

At least 155,393 houses were damaged or destroyed.[14] In Jishishan County, many houses collapsed[22] while at least 5,000 buildings were damaged. A rescue team director said most houses in the area were old and made of clay.[23] Residents were trapped in three villages near Dahejia Town.[24] Communications, transport,[25] electrical and water services were knocked out in some villages.[26] Extensive sand boils due to soil liquefaction occurred at Jintian Village in Minhe Hui and Tu Autonomous County, Qinghai.[27]

Several sections of the Qingshui-Dahejia Highway were blocked by rockfalls. In Xunhua County, homes in several villages were damaged including in Qingshui Township, Daogu Township and Jishi Town. In Minhe County, Guanting Town and Zhongchuan Township were among the places with casualties and severe damage.[28] The shocks were also felt in Lanzhou.[25] China Central Television reported many buildings collapsed while people fled to the streets.[29]

Response

File:2023 Jishishan Earthquake fire trucks.png
Rescue trucks parked at the side of a road in Jishishan in the aftermath.

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping said "all efforts should be made to carry out search and rescue, treat the injured in a timely manner, and minimise casualties".[3]

The Ministry of Emergency Management in Beijing issued a level four emergency response.[30] Rescue workers from the local emergency management and fire departments were deployed to the affected region.[31] Nearly 2,200 provincial fire department, forest brigade and professional emergency rescue teams members were activated. Members of the military and police were also involved,[32] with the Western Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army establishing a command post.[19] The Gansu Fire Brigade deployed 1,440 personnel,[33] 88 fire trucks, 12 search and rescue dogs and 10,000 rescue equipment.[34] To assist local emergency personnel, the Chinese government also deployed teams of rescue workers to the area.[3] Social media footage showed rescue personnel combing through rubble and unfolding stretchers for casualties. Emergency services set up tents as temperatures in the area fell to subzero ranges[35] as low as −15°C,[3] with snowy conditions also being reported.[36] An expert warned on China Newsweek that the freezing conditions could hamper rescue efforts and shorten the time window needed to rescue survivors.[8]

Passenger and cargo railway services in the affected area were stopped to facilitate safety inspections. Hu Changsheng, Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Gansu, and governor Ren Zhenhe subsequently visited the affected areas. At Dahejia, more than 140 local hospital workers attended to the injured. Cracks developed within the walls, prompting makeshift beds to be laid by the roadside.[5] Village residents were evacuated while taxis transported injured survivors away. At Dahe village, a relief team established a camp in the village square.[37] All 15 boarding schools in Jishishan County, which hosted a total of 14,700 students and teachers, were evacuated.[9]

Reactions

Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen expressed condolences and offered assistance, while interim Pakistani prime minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said he was "deeply saddened" over the earthquake.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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