Tuesday 18 June 2019

Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake in Sichaun Province China kills at least 12 people.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km, in Changning County in Sichaun Province, China, at about 10.55 pm local time (about 2.55 pm GMT) on Monday 17 June 2019. The quake is reported to have several buildings to have collapsed in Changning and Qixian counties, as well as some damage in Xuyong County. A total of twelve people have been reported dead so far, eight in Changning and four in Qixian, with 134 reports of injuries, and the number of both dead and injured is expected to rise as search teams work their way through the debris. The area has been hit by a number of large aftershocks.

Rescue workers on a collapsed building in Changning County, Sichuan, following an Earthquake on 17 June 2019. Reuters.

Much of western China and neighbouring areas of Central Asia and the Himalayas, are prone to Earthquakes caused by the impact of the Indian Plate into Eurasia from the south. The Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes). The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.

 The movement of India into Eurasia over the last 71 million years. USGS.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.
 
See also...
 
https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2017/10/magnitude-55-earthquake-in-sichuan.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2017/08/nineteen-dead-after-70-earthquake-in.html
https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2017/08/landslide-kills-23-in-sichuan-province.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2017/06/sichuan-landslide-feared-to-have-killed.html
https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/11/five-dead-after-magnitude-63-earthquake.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/06/magnitude-50-earthquake-in-northern.html
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