The investigation of seismogenic structure of historical strong earthquakes and the research on the genetic link between earthquakes and active faults are a basic seismogeologic work. In particular, the investigation of seismic surface rupture zones and the study of seismogenic structures are extremely important for understanding the characteristics of their tectonic activities. The determination of the macro-epicenter provides important evidence for the site selection for post-disaster reconstruction and avoidance. Due to the diversity of the rupture process in the focal area, the macro-epicenter and the micro-epicenter may not be identical. As the magnitude increases, the larger the focal area of an earthquake is, the more significant the gap between the macro-epicenter and the micro-epicenter will be.

The northern margin of the Qaidam Basin is an area with frequent earthquakes, where many earthquakes with magnitude above 6.0 occurred in the history. In the early and late 1990s, small earthquake swarms with long duration and high frequency occurred in this area, which caused considerable losses to the local industry. Since the Delingha earthquake of magnitude 6.6 in 2003, two earthquakes with magnitude 6.3 and 6.4 occurred in the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin in 2008 and 2009, which aroused great attention of researchers. A new research focus has emerged on this area, and many scholars conducted in-depth research on the faults of the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin.

The author conducted a preliminary remote sensing interpretation of the Amunikeshan Mountain segment of the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin and found that there is a very straight linear feature in the image of the Amunikeshan mountain front. On the basis of remote sensing interpretation, a related study was carried out on the Amunikeshan segment of the northern margin fault of the Qaidam Basin, which was considered to be a Holocene active fault. Since the late Holocene, the horizontal movement rate of the fault is 2.50~2.75mm/a, and the vertical movement rate is(0.43±0.02)mm/a. A 30km-long earthquake surface rupture zone was found in front of Mount Amunikeshan. It is preliminarily believed that the rupture might be caused by a strong historical earthquake. According to the catalogue of historical strong earthquakes and local chronicles, there were earthquakes of magnitude 6.8 and 6.3 occurring in this area on May 21, 1962 and January 19, 1977, respectively. There has been no detailed research report on these two earthquakes.

Through on-the-spot geological investigation, it is found that there are fault scarps, fault grooves, seismic bulges and ridges, twisted water system and other landforms developed along the line, forming a surface rupture zone with a strike of N30°-40°W, a coseismic displacement of 2.3m, and a length of about 22km. Through trenching and excavation, the trench section reveals several faults, indicating the characteristic of multi-stage activity. In the section, the faults ruptured to the surface, and the late Quaternary activity is obvious. Combining surface relics, geological dating, and micro-geomorphic measurements, it is determined that the nature of the fault is mainly strike-slip with thrust. The investigation has found many seismic geological disasters, such as landslides, rockfalls and ground fissures along the fault, which are judged to be generated in recent decades or centuries.

Based on the empirical statistical relationship between magnitude and surface rupture, and the empirical relationship between strike-slip fault and rupture length, the average magnitude required for producing a 22km-long earthquake surface rupture is 6.79, and the average magnitude for producing a 2.3m coseismic displacement is 7.03. In combination with the surface rupture, trench profile, geological dating, seismic geological disasters, empirical formula calculation, historical earthquake catalogue, local chronicles and other documents, it is considered that the rupture zone is most likely produced by the North Huobuxun Lake M6.8 earthquake on May 21, 1962, and its seismogenic fault is the Amunikeshan Mountain segment of the northern margin fault of the Qaidam Basin.

Since the study area has no permanent residents or buildings(structures), which are taken as the basis for inquiring and investigating the earthquake intensity, we are unable to draw the earthquake intensity map.

At 02:04, May 22, 2021, an earthquake with M_S7.4 occurred in Maduo County, Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. The epicenter of the earthquake is about 70km(34.59°N, 98.34°E)south of the east Kunlun fault zone on the northern boundary of the Bayan Har block, with a focal depth of 17km. The Maduo M_S7.4 earthquake is the largest in China after the 2008 Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake. As of 07:00 on June 12, 2021, 58 aftershocks of M≥3.0 had been recorded, including 0 earthquakes of M7.0~7.9, 0 earthquakes of M6.0~6.9, 1 earthquake of M5.0~5.9, 17 earthquakes of M4.0~4.9 and 40 earthquakes of M3.0~3.9.
Field geological surveys after the earthquake showed that the earthquake occurred in the Yematan area, which is more than 30 kilometers south of the county seat of Machali Town. The seismic surface rupture shows obvious segmentation, which can be initially divided into 3~4 segments. The rupture spreads from east to west in a left step, gradually approaching the middle of the Yematan Basin. The nature of the fault is mainly left-lateral strike-slip.
The earthquake produced a large-scale continuous surface rupture in the area from the west of National Highway 214 to the south of Eling Lake, with a length of about 45km and a strike of N95°~105°E. The surface rupture zone is composed of a series of compressional bulges and right-hand echelon fractures, forming large-scale seismic bulges(ridges), seismic fissures, left-lateral displacement and other geomorphic features, and producing the seismic geological disasters such as sand and water gushing, soft soil seismic subsidence and so on. From the east of National Highway 214 to the east of Xueluodong, the fracture zone strikes N100°E, which is composed of discontinuous, small-scale tension shear cracks and small-scale bulge(ridge). In the vicinity of Xuema village, Changmahe Township, a section of about 10km long, N75°E striking, large-scale tension shear fracture and seismic bulge(ridge) with good continuity is developed.
The earthquake caused left-handed displacement of geological bodies, water system gullies, roads, etc. and formed strike-slip scratches in the strata. Through measurement, the horizontal displacement of this rupture is 1.5m in the Langmajiaheri area, 1.3m in the area of Yematanshangtou, and 1.1m west of Xuema Village. There is an obvious vertical displacement of 1.4~0.8m near Yematanshangtou, and the vertical displacement of other sections is not obvious. Generally speaking, the horizontal displacement is greater than the vertical displacement, and the rupture is dominated by strike-slip.Based on the field geological survey results, it is considered that the seismic rupture of this earthquake is large in scale and has a good continuity at its both ends, while the rupture scale is small and the continuity is poor in the middle. The preliminary inversion results of seismic rupture process, InSAR processing results and small earthquake precise positioning results show that the Maduo earthquake is a bilateral rupture with a rupture length of about 170km. The field geological investigation results are basically consistent with the geophysical inversion results.
The Maduo M_S7.4 earthquake(the instrument epicenter is located at 34.59°N, 98.34°E)occurred inside the Bayan Har block on the south side of the main Arak Lake-Tosuo Lake section of the east Kunlun fault zone. Existing data show that a number of nearly parallel NW-trending strike-slip faults are developed around the earthquake sequence. According to previous studies and this geological survey, the seismogenic structure of this earthquake is determined to be the Jiangcuo Fault. According to a comprehensive survey of the scale and length of the earthquake surface rupture and the damage to the buildings, it is believed that surface rupture zone in the Langmajiaheri area is large in scale with good continuity and multi types of surface ruptures. The area can be preliminarily determined as the macro-epicenter. The geographic coordinates of the macro-epicenter are 34.736°N, 97.794°E, which is nearly 50km away from the micro-epicenter. The difference is mainly due to the sparse seismic stations and weak monitoring capability in the area.
The fact that the Maduo earthquake occurred inside the Bayan Har block on the south side of the east Kunlun main fault demonstrates the possibility of generating earthquakes with magnitude 7 or greater in the interior of this block. Therefore, the seismogenic conditions and mechanism of strong earthquake activity inside the Bayan Har block should be a scientific issue that needs more attention in the future.

At 02:04 a.m. on May 22, 2021, a M_S7.4 earthquake occurred in the Maduo County, Qinghai Province, China. Its epicenter is located within the Bayan Har block in the north-central Tibetan plateau, approximately 70km south of the eastern Kunlun fault system that defines the northern boundary of the block. In order to constrain the seismogenic fault and characterize the co-seismic surface ruptures of this earthquake, field investigations were conducted immediately after the earthquake, combined with analyses of the focal parameters, aftershock distribution, and InSAR inversion of this earthquake.
This preliminary study finds that the seismogenic fault of the Maduo M_S7.4 earthquake is the Jiangcuo segment of the Kunlunshankou-Jiangcuo Fault, which is an active NW-striking and left-lateral strike-slip fault. The total length of the co-seismic surface ruptures is approximately 160km. Multiple rupture patterns exist, mainly including linear shear fractures, obliquely distributed tensional and tensional-shear fractures, pressure ridges, and pull-apart basins. The earthquake also induced a large number of liquefaction structures and landslides in valleys and marshlands.
Based on strike variation and along-strike discontinuity due to the development of step-overs, the coseismic surface rupture zone can be subdivided into four segments, namely the Elinghu South, Huanghexiang, Dongcaoarlong, and Changmahexiang segments. The surface ruptures are quite continuous and prominent along the Elinghu south segment, western portion of the Huanghexiang segment, central portion of the Dongcaoarlong segment, and the Huanghexiang segment. Comparatively, coseismic surface ruptures of other portions are discontinuous. The coseismic strike-slip displacement is roughly determined to be 1~2m based on the displaced gullies, trails, and the width of cracks at releasing step-overs.

The northern margin fault of Qaidam Basin(NMFQB)dominates the deformation of the northeastern part of the Qaidam Basin. The study on the Quaternary slip characteristics of NMFQB is of great significance to understand the regional strain-partitioning pattern for the south Qilian orogenic belt, and the extrusion process in the Qaidam Basin. In this paper, Quaternary activities of the fault are discussed based on the remote sensing interpretation, geological survey, trench excavation, GPS topographic profile measurement and OSL dating. The results show that the NMFQB has obvious linear characteristics from the remote sensing image of Xitieshan section. A series of geomorphic traces, such as fault scarps, fault facets, water system displacement, show that the Xitieshan section of the NMFQB is a Holocene active strike-slip fault with minor thrust. Four-stage alluvial fans were identified in the Xitieshan area. The DEM map shows a maximum horizontal displacement of 150m, 38m and 6.5m in the alluvial fan Fan3, Fan2 and Fan1, respectively. The geological age of Fan3 landform in the area obtained by OSL dating is(34.3±3.3)ka, the geological age of Fan2 landform is(11.6±1.0)ka, and that of Fan1 landform is(3.2±0.3)ka. Comparing with the analysis and collation results on the alluvial fans in the northern Qaidam Basin obtained by other researchers, the geological age of Fan3 alluvial fan in the northern Qaidam Basin is about 40ka, that of Fan2 is about 12ka, and the geological age of Fan1 is about 3.5ka. The age of the alluvial fan in the Xitieshan area is basically consistent with the development time of the alluvial fan in the region, indicating that the northern region of the Qaidam Basin was under a large-scale regional uplift during the same period, and the uplift activity was synchronous and recurrent.
Through GPS measurement of fault scarps across faults, the average height of the scarps formed in Fan1 is 1.2m. According to the geological dating of Fan1, the vertical movement rate is calculated to be 0.33~0.38mm/a. The average height of the scarps formed by the alluvial Fan2 is 2.35m. According to the geological dating of Fan2, the vertical movement rate is calculated to be 0.17~0.23mm/a.
We analyze the vertical displacement and related geomorphological ages of the two periods of alluvial fans at the two sites with one west to Xitieshan Town and one east to Quanjihe after measuring the horizontal and vertical displacement data of the geomorphic surface in this area. The Late Pleistocene strike-slip rate of this section is 3.55~4.72mm/a since 40ka and 2.68~3.65mm/a since 12ka, the Holocene strike-slip rate is 1.81~2.1mm/a since 3.2ka, and the Holocene vertical slip rate is 0.33~0.38mm/a. This amount of geological slip rate is consistent with the slip rate of 2~4mm/a from GPS observation.
According to the reverse “S” type structural system, natural profiles and trenching profiles of the northern margin fault of Qaidam Basin, it is believed that the fault was squeezed and uplifted by the Qilian Mountains block in the early stage, and the fault activity was mainly thrust, and in the latter stage, due to the impact of the Altun Tagh Fault, the fault activity takes the form of strike-slip. Controlled by the Altun Tagh Fault, North Qaidam Fault, the Elashan Mountain Fault and East Kunlun Fault, the Qaidam Basin behaves as a block rotating clockwise.

The northeastern margin of Tibetan plateau is an active block controlled by the eastern Kunlun fault zone, the Qilian Shan-Haiyuan fault zone, and the Altyn Tagh fault zone. It is the frontier and the sensitive area of neotectonic activity since the Cenozoic. There are widespread folds, thrust faults and stike-slip faults in the northeastern Tibetan plateau produced by the intensive tectonic deformation, indicating that this area is suffering the crustal shortening, left-lateral shear and vertical uplift. The Riyueshan Fault is one of the major faults in the dextral strike-slip faults systems, which lies between the two major large-scale left-lateral strike-slip faults, the Qilian-Haiyuan Fault and the eastern Kunlun Fault. In the process of growing and expanding of the entire Tibetan plateau, the dextral strike-slip faults play an important role in regulating the deformation and transformation between the secondary blocks. In the early Quaternary, because of the northeastward expansion of the northeastern Tibetan plateau, tectonic deformations such as NE-direction extrusion shortening, clockwise rotation, and SEE-direction extrusion occurred in the northeastern margin of the Tibetan plateau, which lead to the left-lateral slip movement of the NWW-trending major regional boundary faults. As the result, the NNW-trending faults which lie between these NWW direction faults are developed. The main geomorphic units developed within the research area are controlled by the Riyueshan Fault, formed due to the northeastward motion of the Tibet block. These geomorphic units could be classified as:Qinghai Lake Basin, Haiyan Basin, Datonghe Basin, Dezhou Basin, and the mountains developed between the basins such as the Datongshan and the Riyueshan. Paleo basins, alluvial fans, multiple levels of terraces are developed at mountain fronts. The climate variation caused the formation of the geomorphic units during the expansion period of the lakes within the northeastern Tibetan plateau. There are two levels of alluvial fans and three levels of fluvial terrace developed in the study area, the sediments of the alluvial fans and fluvial terraces formed by different sources are developed in the same period. The Riyueshan Fault connects with the NNW-trending left-lateral strike-slip north marginal Tuoleshan fault in the north, and obliquely connects with the Lajishan thrust fault in the south. The fault extends for about 180km from north to south, passing through Datonghe, Reshui coal mine, Chaka River, Tuole, Ketu and Xicha, and connecting with the Lajishan thrusts near the Kesuer Basin. The Riyueshan Fault consists of five discontinuous right-step en-echelon sub-fault segments, with a spacing of 2~3km, and pull-apart basins are formed in the stepovers.
The Riyueshan Fault is a secondary fault located in the Qaidam-Qilian active block which is controlled by the major boundary faults, such as the East Kunlun Fault and the Qilian-Haiyuan Fault. Its activity characteristics provide information of the outward expansion of the northeastern margin of Tibet. Tectonic landforms are developed along the Riyueshan Fault. Focusing on the distinct geomorphic deformation since late Pleistocene, the paper obtains the vertical displacement along the fault strike by RTK measurement method. Based on the fault growth-linkage theory, the evolution of the Riyueshan Fault and the related kinetic background are discussed. The following three conclusions are obtained:1)According to the characteristics of development of the three-stage 200km-long steep fault scarp developed in the landforms of the late Pleistocene alluvial fans and terraces, the Riyueshan Fault is divided into five segments, with the most important segment located in the third stepover(CD-3); 2)The three-stage displacement distribution pattern of the Riyueshan Fault reveals that the fault was formed by the growths and connections of multiple secondary faults and is in the second stage of fault growth and connection. With CD-3 as the boundary, the faults on the NW side continue to grow and connect; the fault activity time on the SE side is shorter, and the activity intensity is weaker; 3)The extreme value of the fault displacement distribution curve indicates the location of strain concentration and stress accumulation. With the stepover CD-3 as the boundary, the stress and strain on NW side are mainly concentrated in the middle and fault stepovers. The long-term accumulation range of stress on the SE side is relatively dispersed. The stress state may be related to the counterclockwise rotation inside the block under the compression of regional tectonic stress.

The Riyue Mt. Fault is a secondary fault controlled by the major regional boundary faults (East Kunlun Fault and Qilian-Haiyuan Fault). It lies in the interior of Qaidam-Qilianshan block and between the major regional boundary faults. The Riyue Mt. fault zone locates in the special tectonic setting which can provide some evidences for recent activity of outward extension of NE Tibetan plateau, so it is of significance to determine the activity of Riyue Mt. Fault since late Pleistocene to Holocene. In this paper, we have obtained some findings along the Dezhou segment of Riyue Mt. Fault by interpreting the piedmont alluvial fans, measuring fault scarps, and excavating trenches across the fault scarp. The findings are as follows:(1) Since the late Pleistocene, there are an alluvial fan f_p and three river terraces T₁-T₃ formed on the Dezhou segment. The abandonment age of f_p is approximately (21.2±0.6) ka, and that of the river terrace T₂ is (12.4±0.11) ka. (2) Since the late Pleistocene, the dextral strike-slip rate of the Riyue Mt. Fault is (2.41±0.25) mm/a. In the Holocene, the dextral strike-slip rate of the fault is (2.18±0.40) mm/a, and its vertical displacement rate is (0.24±0.16) mm/a. This result indicates that the dextral strike-slip rate of the Riyue Mt. Fault has not changed since the late Pleistocene. It is believed that, as one of the dextral strikeslip faults, sandwiched between the the regional big left-lateral strike-slip faults, the Riyue Mt. Fault didn't cut the boundary zone of the large block. What's more, the dextral strike-slip faults play an important role in the coordination of deformation between the sub-blocks during the long term growth and expansion of the northeast Tibetan plateau.