Main Himalayan Thrust

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Main Himalayan Thrust
LocationHimalayas
Characteristics
Length>2000km
Strikenorthwest-southeast
Tectonics
StatusActive
Earthquakes1505 Lo Mustang earthquake, 1950 Assam-Tibet earthquake, 2015 Gorkha earthquake, 2015 Nepal earthquake, etc.
Typesubduction zone
A geological map of the Himalaya region. The Main Himalayan Thrust underlies the rock units.
Diagram showing a décollement

The Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) is a décollement under the Himalaya Range. This thrust fault follows a NW-SE strike, reminiscent of an arc, and gently dip towards the north, beneath the region. It is the largest active continental megathrust fault in the world.[1]

Overview[]

The MHT accommodates crustal shortening of India and Eurasia as a result of the ongoing collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates.[2] Deformation of the crust is also accommodated along structures including the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT), Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), Main Central Thrust (MCT) and possibly the South Tibetan Detachment. The MHT is the root detachment of these splays. At this present moment, the MFT and MHT accounts for almost the entire rate of convergence (15-21 mm/yr).[3][4] This fault defines where the India subcontinent is under thrusted beneath the Himalayan orogenic wedge.

In April 2015, a section of the MHT produced a blind rupture earthquake, killing nearly 9,000 Nepalese.[5][6]

Associated seismicity[]

This list is incomplete, you can help expand it.

The Main Himalayan Thrust and its splay branches has been the source of numerous earthquakes, including some that are indirectly related.

Date Country Magnitude Depth (km) MMI Deaths Comments Source
1255-06-07 Nepal 8.0+ - 800 km of rupture. Killed one-third of Nepal's population [7][8]
1344-09-14 Nepal - [9]
1408 Nepal - [9]
1505-06-06 Nepal, India and China 8.9 - Killed 30% of the Nepalese population [10]
1680 Nepal <7.5 - [9]
1714-05-4 Bhutan 7.6–8.6 - IX "Many" Ruptured the whole Bhutan section of the Main Frontal Thrust [11]
1803-09-01 India 7.8-7.9 - IX 300 Damage as far as New Delhi.
1833-08-26 Nepal 7.5-7.9 - IX 500 Severely damaged Kathmandu and was felt as far as Calcutta. [12]
1905-04-04 India 7.9 - X 20,000+ [13]
1934-01-05 Nepal and India 8.1 15.0 XI 12,000 Ruptured to the surface via the Main Frontal Thrust [14]
1947-07-29 China 7.3 20.0 V
1950-08-15 India, China and Myanmar 8.6 15.0 XI 4,800 [15]
Nepal and India 6.1 37.0 80 [16]
1980-07-29 Nepal and India 6.5 17.5 VIII 200 [17]
1988-08-21 Nepal 6.9 57.4 VIII 700-1400
1991-10-20 India 6.8 10.3 IX 2000 Main Central Thrust
1999-03-29 India 6.8 21.0 VII 103
2005-10-08 Pakistan 7.6 26.0 IX 87,400 [18]
2009-09-21 Bhutan 6.1 14.0 VI 11 [19]
2011-09-18 India 6.9 50.0 VII 111 Intraplate strike-slip
2013-05-01 Pakistan and India 5.7 15.0 VII 1 Additional 59 injured. [20]
2015-04-25 Nepal 7.8 8.2 VIII 8,964 [5]
2015-05-12 Nepal 7.3 18.5 VIII 218 Aftershock of the April 2015 earthquake [2]
2015-07-24 Pakistan 5.1 17.0 V 3 [21]
2019-09-24 Pakistan 5.6 10.0 VII 40 [22]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Liu, Y.; Hubbard, J.; Almeida, R.V.; Foster, A.; Liberty, L.; Lee, Y.S.; Sapkota, S.N. (2020). "Constraints on the Shallow Deformation Around the Main Frontal Thrust in Central Nepal from Refraction Velocities". Tectonophysics. 777: 228366. doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2020.228366 – via Boise State University.
  2. ^ a b Hubbard, J.; Almeida, R.; Foster, A.; Sapkota, S.N.; Bürgi, P.; Tapponnier, P. (2016). "Structural segmentation controlled the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake rupture in Nepal". Geology. 44 (8): 639–642. doi:10.1130/G38077.1.
  3. ^ Le Roux-Mallouf, R.; Godard, V.; Cattin, R.; Ferry, M.; Gyeltshen, J.; Ritz, J.–F.; Drupka, D.; Guillou, V.; Arnold, M.; Aumaitre, G.; Bourlès, D.L.; Keddadouche, K. (2015). "Evidence for a wide and gently dipping Main Himalayan Thrust in western Bhutan" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters. 42 (9): 3257–3265. doi:10.1002/2015GL063767.
  4. ^ Hubbard, J. "Geometry and Kinematics of the Main Frontal Thrust, Himalaya". Earth Observatory of Singapore. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b "M 7.8 - 36km E of Khudi, Nepal". US Geological Survey.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Duputel, Z.; Vergne, J.; Rivera, L.; Wittlinger, G.; Farra, V.; Hetényi, G. (2016). "The 2015 Gorkha earthquake: A large event illuminating the Main Himalayan Thrust fault" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters. 43 (6): 2517–2525. doi:10.1002/2016GL068083.
  7. ^ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Comments for the 1255 Earthquake". NOAA. National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Pierce, I.; Wesnousky, S.G. (2016). "On a flawed conclusion that the 1255 A.D. earthquake ruptured 800 km of the Himalayan Frontal Thrust east of Kathmandu". Geophysical Research Letters. 43 (17). doi:10.1002/2016GL070426.
  9. ^ a b c Bollinger, L.; Tapponnier, P.; Sapkota, S.N.; Klinger, Y. (2016). "Slip deficit in central Nepal: omen for a repeat of the 1344 AD earthquake?". Earth Planets Space. 68 (12). doi:10.1186/s40623-016-0389-1. S2CID 32078899.
  10. ^ Rajendran, C.P.; Rajendran, K.; Sanwal, J.; Sandiford, M. (2013). "Archeological and Historical Database on the Medieval Earthquakes of the Central Himalaya: Ambiguities and Inferences" (PDF). Seismological Research Letters. 84 (6): 1098–1108. doi:10.1785/0220130077.
  11. ^ Zhao, Y.; Grujic, D.; Baruah, S.; Drukpa, D.; Elkadi, J.; Hetényi, G.; King, G.E.; Mildon, Z.K.; Nepal, N.; Welte, C. (2021). "Paleoseismological Findings at a New Trench Indicate the 1714 M8.1 Earthquake Ruptured the Main Frontal Thrust Over all the Bhutan Himalaya". Frontiers in Earth Science. 9. doi:10.3389/feart.2021.689457.
  12. ^ Chaulagain, H.; Gautam, D.; Rodrigues, H. (2018). "Chapter 1 - Revisiting Major Historical Earthquakes in Nepal: Overview of 1833, 1934, 1980, 1988, 2011, and 2015 Seismic Events". In Gautam, D.; Rodrigues, H.F.P. (eds.). Impacts and Insights of the Gorkha Earthquake. Elsevier. pp. 1–17. ISBN 9780128128091.
  13. ^ Pant, C.C.; Pathak, V.; Joshi, S. (2016). "Extant Seismicity and Regional Tectonic Interpretation: An illustration from Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India". In Singh, S.P.; Khanal, S.C.; Joshi, M. (eds.). Lessons From Nepal's Earthquake For The Indian Himalayas And The Gangetic Plains (PDF). Central Himalayan Environment Association. p. 31.
  14. ^ "M 8.0 - Nepal-India border region". US Geological Survey.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ "M 8.6 - 1950 Assam-Tibet Earthquake". US Geological Survey.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ P. N. Agrawal (1969). "Structural response results during the June 27, 1966 earthquake in Nepal-India border region". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 59 (2): 771–775.
  17. ^ "M 6.5 - 40 km NNE of Dipayal, Nepal". earthquake.usgs.gov. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  18. ^ "M 7.6 - Pakistan". US Geological Survey.
  19. ^ "M 6.1 - Bhutan". US Geological Survey.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ Mukhtar Ahmad (1 May 2013). "Moderate earthquake kills 1, injures 59 in eastern Kashmir". CNN. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  21. ^ "M 5.1 - 19km WSW of Murree, Pakistan". US Geological Survey.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ "M 5.4 - 7km SSE of New Mirpur, Pakistan". US Geological Survey.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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