M 7.0 - 128 km WNW of Aykol, China

Tectonic Summary

The January 22, 2024, M 7.0 earthquake near the Kyrgyzstan-China border occurred as the result of oblique reverse and strike-slip faulting at shallow depth. Focal mechanism solutions for the event indicate the rupture occurred on either a moderately dipping oblique reverse and right-lateral fault striking east, or a steeply dipping oblique reverse and left-lateral fault striking west. The earthquake is located within the Tien Shan mountain range, an intraplate fold and thrust belt tectonically controlled largely by the collision of India into Asia. The epicentral region is characterized by numerous east-northeast trending reverse faults and left-lateral strike-slip faults and intermontane basins.

While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this magnitude are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area. Events of magnitude 7.0 are typically about 45 km by 20 km in size (length x width).

This is a seismically active region, though earthquakes of this size occur somewhat infrequently. In the preceding 100 years there were three events above M 6.5 within 250 km of the January 22 event, with the largest being a M 7.1 event in March of 1978, approximately 200 km to the north. In January 1911, the M 8.0 Kemin earthquake occurred nearly 250 km to the northwest of the January 22 event, near the modern border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The Kemin earthquake killed more than 450 people and caused extensive damage in the region.