Research Paper on 2014 Ludian Earthquake in China

Abstract

On August 3, 2014, the Ludian County of Yunnan Province in southwestern and northeastern Yunnan Province, China, was struck by an MS 6.5 earthquake at 16:30 (Beijing Standard Time). That was another destructive event after the MS 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, MS7.1 Yushu earthquake in 2010, and MS 7.0 Lushan earthquake in 2013. The earthquake which was very strong occurred on the margin of the Tibetan plateau in a rural area of Ludian county.The epicenter (103.3° E, 27.1° N) was located at the intersection of the northwest-striking Baogunao – Xiaohe and northeast-trending Zhaotong–Ludian faults. The focal mechanisms of the main shock and four strong aftershocks showed that there was a high dip angle, sinistral strike-slip event , (http://www.eqigl.ac.cn/wwwroot/c_000000090001/d_1406.html , accessed 11 August 2015;http://comcat.cr.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000rzmg #scientific , accessed 12 August 2015; Fang et al. ,2014 . As a result of this earthquake, it was reported that 617 people died, and 112 people were missing and presumed dead, 3143 people were injured, and many houses were damaged. To properly understand the Ludian earthquake dynamics, and in particular why an earthquake of this magnitude would have such an unusual damaging effect, it was reported that a high resolution remote sensing images and field investigations were used to map geology, land forms, landslides, and building failures.