According to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, at 7:19 p.m. local time (11:19 UTC) on Thursday, July 9, a moderate earthquake struck China’s southwest Yunnan province. The USGS issued a moment magnitude of 5.7 and focal depth was estimated at a shallow at 6.2 miles (10 km).
“The quake collapsed 18,000 homes and damaged about 75,000 additional structures across the remote mountainous region,” stated Dr. Bingming Shen-Tu, principal scientist, seismology, at AIR Worldwide.
Thursday’s earthquake, which was followed by numerous aftershocks, hit 60 miles (100km) east northeast of Dali (population 590,000) and about 1320 miles (2130 km) southwest of Beijing. “Many of the houses impacted were very vulnerable, either mud or low-quality unreinforced masonry structures,” Dr. Shen-Tu added. “Most were uninsured and did not adhere to building codes.”
“Southwest China (including Yunnan province) is part of the country’s North-South Seismic Belt, home to some of the largest and deadliest earthquakes in China’s history, including last year’s magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake in the central province of Sichuan—the country’s deadliest natural disaster in almost thirty years.” That event killed nearly 70,000 people and is estimated to have destroyed 5.36 million buildings.
Moderate earthquakes are quite frequent in this area as well. “Since 1955, an M 5.0 event (or larger) has occurred every 3-4 years within 62 miles (100 km) of Yao An County—the location of Thursday’s temblor,” continued Dr. Shen-Tu. “In January 2000, an M 5.9 earthquake struck the same epicentral site, flattening tens of thousands of buildings. Again, most were of poor quality and uninsured.”
The location of Thursday’s earthquake is bounded by the Red River Fault in the southwest and the Xiaojian-Xianshuihe Fault in the east. The quake occurred about 12 miles (20 km) northeast of the Chuxong fault, one of the active faults parallel to the Red River Fault. Seismologists have not yet identified an active fault in the area that can be directly correlated with this event.
Source: AIR Worldwide – www.airworldwide.com
Topics Catastrophe China
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Pfizer Agrees to Settle More Than 10,000 Zantac Cancer Lawsuits 
Progressive Set to ‘Maximize’ Growth, Building on Q1 
Fannie and Freddie Hit Pause on Replacement-Value Requirements for Home Insurance 
Worsening Weather Igniting $25 Billion Weather Derivatives Market 
