Contemporary tectonic stress field in China

Abstract

The contemporary tectonic stress field in China is obtained on the basis of Chinese stress field database and Harvard CMT catalogue. Result of the inverted tectonic stresses shows that the maximum principal stress axis strikes nearly north-south direction in the west part of Tibet plateau, ENE direction in North China. In Central China, its strikes show a radiated pattern, i.e., NNE in north part and NNW in south part. The detailed stress field parameters of nearly whole China are given and can be used in geodynamic stress field simulation and earthquake prediction. © 2010 The Seismological Society of China and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.