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2003 Bachu earthquake

Earthquake in Xinjiang, China

Field	Value
title	2003 Bachu earthquake
timestamp	2003-02-24 02:03:41
anss-url	usp000brbp
isc-event	6593974
local-time	10:03
local-date
map2	{{Location map	China Xinjiang#China
relief	1
lat	39.610
long	77.230	mark=Bullseye1.png
marksize	50
position	top
width	260
float	right
caption	}}
magnitude	6.8
6.3
depth	11 km
location
countries affected	Xinjiang, China
casualties	268 fatalities, 4,853 injuries
intensity

| anss-url = usp000brbp | isc-event = 6593974 | local-time = 10:03 | local-date = 6.3

The 2003 Bachu earthquake occurred on 24 February at 10:03 local time in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in northwest China. The epicenter was located near to the town of Jiashi and Bachu County, approximately 105 km east of Kashgar and 310 km west of Aksu.

Tectonic setting

Seismic activity is common in the Bachu and the surrounding area. It occurs as a result of movement on fault systems that bound the Tien Shan mountain belt. The Tien Shan is actively evolving, as a result of far-field stresses associated with the collision of India and Eurasia. According to the moment tensor solution, the earthquake occurred on a thrust fault that dips 6° to the north, and strikes approximately east–west. Such a gentle dip angle implies that the earthquake may have occurred on or just above the basal detachment of the neighbouring fold-thrust belts. There is no evidence of oblique-slip or strike-slip movement.

Damage and casualties

The earthquake killed 268 people and injured 4,853 others, 2,058 of them seriously. The counties of Bachu, Jiashi, Artux and Makit, as well as the city of Kashgar were the worst-affected areas. According to Xinhua News Agency, the quake was the most serious in the area since 1949. In the town of Chongku Qiake, the worst hit town in Bachu, every house was damaged, leaving 90 percent of the population without shelter. Most of the casualties occurred in the county, where more than 158 were killed including the elderly and children. Around 12 children in a secondary school were killed when their school collapsed. Two bodies of children were found in a primary school. Almost 71,000 homes were levelled and 40,119 others were damaged by the earthquake.

References

(December 1, 2008). "EXPO-CAT Earthquake Catalog". United States Geological Survey.
{{Cite anss. Bachu. 2003. usp000brbp. M 6.3 – southern Xinjiang, China
(9 August 2005). "新疆伽师-巴楚6.8级震灾情况". [[Government of China]].
"M 6.3 – 107 km E of Kashgar, China (Impact)". United States Geological Survey.
(25 February 2003). "China: Mighty earthquake strikes Xinjiang". ReliefWeb.
"Xinjiang China Earthquake".
(25 February 2003). "Hundreds die in Chinese earthquake".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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earthquakes-in-xinjiang 2003-earthquakes february-2003-in-china 2003-disasters-in-china earthquakes-in-kyrgyzstan

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