April 13, 2010 Earthquake: Yushu, Qinghai Province, China

Felt Reports

At least 2,220 people killed, 70 missing, 12,135 injured and 15,000 buildings damaged in the Yushu area. Felt (IV) at Lhasa, Qiaotou and Xining; (II) at Baojishan, Lanzhou and Urumqi. Felt at Aksu, Dazhou, Jinchang, Ya'an, Yumen Dong Zhan and Zhangye. Felt (II) at Thimphu, Bhutan. Also felt at Punakha. Felt at Dibrugarh and Gezing, India. Also felt at Kathmandu, Nepal and at Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Tectonic Summary

The southern Qinghai Province, China earthquake of April 13, 2010 occurred as a result of strike-slip faulting in the tectonically complex region of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. This earthquake occurred several hundred kilometers north of the convergent India:Eurasia plate boundary, where the Indian Plate is moving northwards with respect to Eurasia at a rate of approximately 46 mm/yr. This convergence drives the uplift of the Himalaya Mountains, at a rate of approximately 10 mm/yr, and the Tibetan Plateau, which is an extremely broad region of thickened and uplifted crust sitting above 4.5-5 km.

In the region of the April 13 earthquake the Tibetan Plateau is extending and translating east-southeastward within a larger zone of generally north-south convergence. Based on the location, depth, and moment tensor of the event, the Qinghai Province earthquake likely reflects the interplay amongst these major tectonic forces, dominated in this location by southeastward translation. The eastward motion of Tibet with respect to Eurasia further north is accommodated in part by the large intra-continental Altyn Tagh and Kunlun strike-slip fault systems. Several large historic events in the Qinghai Province have occurred on the Kunlun fault, which runs west-east approximately 300 km to the north of the April 13 event. The April 13 earthquake is one of the largest known historic earthquakes within several hundred kilometers of its location. In 1738, a nearby earthquake of approximately magnitude 6.5 caused over 300 fatalities.

(above from reference #1053)

The death toll from last week's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in northwest China has risen to 2,039, state media said late Monday. Another 195 people were still missing, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing rescue headquarters. It added that 12,135 people were injured, of whom 1,434 were in serious condition. The earthquake toppled about 15,000 homes in and around the impoverished county of Yushu, and caused more than 100,000 people to flee the area. Qinghai province is home to about 5 million people and is considered a gateway to Himalayan Tibet. (reference #7062)

2010, April 14, China P Rep, Yushu prefecture (Qinghai), 2968 killed, 112,000 affected, $500 million damage. (reference #1250)

3.376 billion USD economic loss (reference #13727)

The death toll from the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that jolted Yushu of northwest China's Qinghai Province on April 14 has climbed to 2,698, with 270 people still missing (reference #13729)