Analysis of Remote Sensing Images of Ground Ruptures Resulting from the Kunlun Mountain Pass Earthquake in 2001

Abstract  On November 14, 2001, an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 8.1 occurred to the west of the Kunlun Mountain Pass which is near the border between Xinjiang and Qinghai of China. Since its epicenter is located in an area at an elevation of 4900 m where the environment is extremely adverse, field investigation to this event seems very difficult. We have performed interpretation and analysis of the satellite images of ETM, SPOT, Ikonos, and ERS-1/2SAR to reveal the spatial distribution and deformation features of surface ruptures caused by this large earthquake. Our results show that the rupture zone on the ground is 426 km long, and strikes N90–110°E with evident left-lateral thrusting. In spatial extension, it has two distinct sections. One extends from the Bukadaban peak to the Kunlun Mountain Pass, with a total length of 350 km, and trending N95–110°E. Its fracture plane is almost vertical, with clear linear rupture traces and a single structure, and the maximum left-lateral offset is 7.8 m. This section is the main rupture zone caused by the earthquake, which is a re-fracturing along an old fault. The other is the section from Kushuihuan to the Taiyang Lake. It is 26 km long, trending N90–105°E, with the maximum strike-slip displacement being 3 m, and is a newly-generated seismic rupture. In a 50 km-long section between the Taiyang Lake and the Bukadaban peak, no rupture is found on the ground. The eastern and western rupture zones may have resulted from two earthquakes. The macroscopic epicenter is situated at 65 km east of the Hoh Sai Lake. The largest coseismic horizontal offset in the macroscopic epicenter ranges from 7 m to 8 m. Based on the dislocation partition of the whole rupture zone, it is suggested that this rupture zone has experienced a process of many times of intensification and fluctuation, exhibiting a remarkable feature of segmentation.