Satellite images of Tibet’s Dingri earthquake zone: the largest crack is shallow and the maximum displacement is up to 6 meters.

Based on the official measurement of China Earthquake Networks, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on January 7th, 2025 at 9:05 AM Beijing time, in Dingri County, Xigaze City, Tibet (latitude 28.5 degrees north, longitude 87.45 degrees east), with a focal depth of 10 kilometers.

The “InSAR Post-earthquake Deformation Field” of the Dingri M6.8 earthquake is shown in the pictures provided by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and the National Institute for Natural Disaster Prevention. This earthquake was located within the拉萨地块 of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The epicenter area was influenced by the Indian Plate’s push, the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the thickening of the crust. The southern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was subjected to both north-south compression and east-west tensile stress, resulting in two typical fractures running nearly north-south and nearly east-west within the plateau. Under intense crustal deformation, the activity of the Lhasa Block and its surrounding fault zones was particularly intense.

On the evening of January 8th, reporters from The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) learned from the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology (also known as the Shanghai Aerospace Technology Research Institute) that after the earthquake, the National Institute for Natural Disaster Prevention, the National Disaster Reduction Center, and the China Resources Satellite Center and the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Land Satellite Application Center conducted emergency shooting to obtain post-earthquake images taken by the Land Detection Satellite No.1-01 group developed by the Eighth Academy. They also completed emergency processing of the co-seismic deformation field and inversion of fault rupture parameters in real time.

The results of emergency shooting showed that the mechanism of this earthquake was tensile in nature. InSAR results also confirmed that this earthquake was a normal fault rupture process, and it was inferred that the seismic断裂 was the Dengmoco Fault. The InSAR results showed that the maximum LOS deformation occurred in the hanging wall, with a maximum deformation of nearly 2 meters. The InSAR results quickly anchored the epicenter of the earthquake, providing strong technical support for earthquake response at the scene.

Based on the InSAR co-seismic deformation field and using PSOKINV to invert the rupture parameters of this earthquake, initial results showed that the fault’s strike during this earthquake was 187 degrees, with a dip angle of 36 degrees and an average rake angle of 90 degrees, indicating a dominant normal faulting process. The distributed seismic rupture model indicates that the maximum rupture position during this earthquake was relatively shallow, mainly concentrated at depths of 1-5 kilometers, with a maximum displacement of up to 6 meters.

Meanwhile, the China National Space Administration’s Data Center for Earth Observation immediately activated its commercial aerospace emergency response mechanism in accordance with its responsibilities. It carried out multi-satellite joint emergency task planning through its commercial joint planning system, coordinating and dispatching satellites from various commercial units such as China Resources Satellite Application Center, Tiandy Research Institute, Changguang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., and Micro-star Space Technology Co., Ltd., to conduct emergency imaging of Dingri County and its surrounding areas. It also synchronously queried historical images from disaster areas. The first batch of remote sensing data from three scenes and pre-disaster historical data were urgently shared to the National Disaster Reduction Center, China Earthquake Administration Institute for Earthquake Prediction Research, and Gaofen Tibet Center on January 7th at 1:40 PM. The China National Space Administration stated that its Data Center for Earth Observation will continue to closely monitor the status of the Xigaze earthquake disaster in Tibet, fully prepare for emergency satellite data support, conduct continuous tracking and observation in disaster areas, provide image data from disaster areas to relevant units in a timely manner, and provide remote sensing satellite data support for earthquake relief and disaster assessment work.