On the large scale spatial heterogeneity of great shallow earthquakes and plate coupling mechanism in Chinese mainland and its adjacent areas

摘要

Research on the large scale spatial heterogeneity of great intraplate shallow earthquakes on the Chinese mainland and adjacent areas discussed in this paper shows that (1) there are four main high seismicity areas: the North China seismic area in the eastern part of China (30deg～42deg ), the Southeastern Coast seismic area in the eastern part of China (19deg～25deg N), the North-South seismic area in the western part of China and its adjacent areas (Burma-China-Mongolia), and the Central Asian seismic area in the western part of China and its adjacent areas (Pamir-Tianshan Mountains-Baikal); (2) the four intraplate seismic areas that are approximately perpendicular to those sections of the Eurasia plate boundary that surrounds the Chinese mainland and its adjacent areas, where the Eurasia plate has a strong seismic coupling with the North America-Pacific Ocean-Philippine Sea plate and the India plate; and (3) the large scale spatial heterogeneity of intraplate seismicity in China and its adjacent areas that might be controlled by nonuniform stress states at different sections of the plate boundary.