1981 Dawu earthquake

{{infobox earthquake

| title = 1981 Dawu earthquake

| timestamp = 1981-01-23 21:13:50

| isc-event = 633084

| anss-url = iscgem633084

| local-date = {{Start date|1981|01|24}}

| local-time = 05:13:50 CST

| image =

| image alt =

| map2 = {{Location map | China Sichuan

| label=

| lat=30.93

| long=101.10

| mark=Bullseye1.png

| marksize=40

| position=top

| width= 250

| float=right

| caption=}}

| map_alt =

| magnitude = 6.8 {{M|s|link=y}}

| depth =

| location = {{coord|30.93|101.10|display=inline,title}}

| type = Strike-slip

| countries affected = Sichuan, China

| tsunami =

| casualties = About 150 dead; roughly 300 injured

|intensity={{MMI|IX}}{{Cite web|title=M 6.8 – 131 km NW of Kangding, China – Impact|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usp0001bve/impact|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-03|publisher=United States Geological Survey|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625125304/https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usp0001bve/impact |archive-date=2021-06-25 }}

}}

The 1981 Dawu earthquake occurred on {{tooltip|24 January at 5:13 a.m. CST|23 January at 21:13 UTC}}, in Sichuan, China. Registering a surface-wave magnitude of 6.8, the earthquake killed about 150 people and injured roughly 300 more. It caused comprehensive damage within close range of its epicenter.

Background

China has an extensive history of catastrophic earthquakes that ranges back to 1290. The first verified earthquake took place in Chih-li, killing roughly 100,000 people. The next great earthquake was probably the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake, the most devastating earthquake of all time. Roughly 830,000 were killed by the event. Other earthquakes in 1917, 1918, 1920, 1923, 1925, 1927, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1948, 1950, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976 each killed at least one thousand people. Since 1981, earthquake fatalities have diminished greatly, though have not been stopped. As recently as 2008, an earthquake in Sichuan killed nearly 90,000 people.{{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/historical_country.php#china |title=Historic World Earthquakes – China |publisher=United States Geological Survey |date=23 November 2009 |accessdate=22 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728221758/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/historical_country.php |archivedate=28 July 2010 }}

Characteristics

The epicenter was pinpointed to Dawu County in Sichuan. Its official magnitude was 6.8 and its surface wave magnitude reached 6.6.{{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/significant/sig_1981.php |title=Significant Earthquakes of the World – 1981 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |date=5 January 2010 |accessdate=22 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011191203/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/significant/sig_1981.php |archivedate=11 October 2012 }}

A moderately well controlled focal mechanism indicates that the earthquake was probably a result of left lateral strike-slip faulting on the Daofu fault. The Daofu fault forms part of the Xianshuihe fault system, which experienced a sequence of four earthquakes greater than 6.0 between 1973 and 1982, with each event triggering the next in the sequence by changing the stress state.{{cite journal|last=Zhang|first=Q.|author2=Zhang P.|author3=Wang C.|author4=Wang Y.|author5=Ellis M.A.|name-list-style=amp|year=2003|title=Earthquake triggering and delaying caused by fault interaction on Xianshuihe fault belt, southwestern China|journal=Acta Seismologica Sinica|volume=16|issue=2|pages=156–165|bibcode = 2003AcSSn..16..156Z |doi = 10.1007/s11589-003-0018-5 |s2cid=128487233}} A 44 km surface rupture has been reported for the 1981 earthquake.{{cite journal|last1=Zhou|first1=H.|last2=Liu|first2=H.|last3=Kanamori|first3=H.|authorlink3=Hiroo Kanamori|year=1983|title=Source processes of large earthquakes along the Xianshuihe Fault in southwestern China|journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America|volume=73|issue=2|page=537 |doi=10.1785/BSSA0730020537 |bibcode=1983BuSSA..73..537Z |url=http://gps-staging-storage.cloud.caltech.edu.s3.amazonaws.com/people_personal_assets/kanamori/HKbssa83c.pdf|accessdate=2010-02-06}}{{Dead link|date=February 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Damage and casualties

The earthquake killed roughly 150 people and 300 or so were injured. Damage was considerable, but limited to a small zone around the area.

References

External links

{{EQ-isc-link|633084}}

Dawu Earthquake, 1981

Category:Earthquakes in Sichuan