Summary： 6.2 Gansu earthquake, 111 people were killed

On December 18, 2023, at 23:59, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake occurred in Baoshan Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, with a depth of 10 kilometers. The epicenter of the earthquake is about 8 kilometers away from the county seat in Liugou Township. As of 6:00 am on December 19th, a total of 275 aftershocks have been recorded.

As of 10:00 am on December 19, 2023, the earthquake has caused 105 deaths in Gansu and 11 deaths in Qinghai, and some infrastructure such as water, electricity, transportation, and communication has been damaged.

According to the quick report catalog of China Seismological Station Network, there have been 24 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or above in the past five years within 200km around the epicenter, and the largest earthquake is this one.

Historical earthquakes

Within a range of 200 kilometers near the epicenter of this earthquake, there have been a total of 3 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above since 1900, all of which are isolated or mainshock aftershock types. As of 04:00 on December 19, 2023, a total of 9 aftershocks with a magnitude of 3.0 or above were recorded, including 7 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0-3.9 and 2 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 or above. The largest was the 4.1 magnitude earthquake that occurred at 00:59 on December 19.

Cause of formation

The Gandongnan active tectonic zone is located in the northern part of the north-south seismic belt in China, and is an important component area of the northeastern edge of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. Due to the long-term compression of the Eurasian and Indian plates, the tectonic activity in this area is strong, with the development of multiple deep and large faults such as the East Kunlun Fault, the northern edge of the West Qinling Mountains Fault, the Lintan Dangchang Fault, the Guanggaishan Dieshan Fault, the Diebu Bailongjiang Fault, the Tazang Fault, the Minjiang Fault, the Xueshan Fault, and the Huya Fault.