The October 7, 2014 M 6.0 earthquake in the southwest of Weiyuan, China, in the southwestern of Yunnan Province, occurred as the result of shallow strike-slip faulting within the crust of the Eurasia plate, in the broad plate boundary region between the India and Eurasia plates. Tectonics here are controlled by the convergence of the India plate with Eurasia, which has driven the uplift of the Himalayas to the west of this earthquake, and has caused the formation of numerous intraplate continental transform structures in the surrounding region.
The pattern of elastic-wave radiation from the earthquake is consistent with the shock occurring either as the result of right-lateral faulting on a northwest-trending fault or as the result of left-lateral faulting on a northeast trending fault. Faults of both types have been mapped in southwestern Yunnan, and it is unclear at this time which type of fault hosted this event. At the latitude of the October 7 earthquake, India moves northeastward with respect to Eurasia at the rate of approximately 51 mm/yr. Strong earthquakes are reasonably common in the Yunnan province, and the bordering countries of Myanmar and Laos.
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