section_path: Tectonic setting
section_name: Tectonic setting
paragraph_text: Tectonic setting
  
  The Tibetan plateau attains its high elevation due to crustal thickening caused by the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian plate, creating the Himalayas. Faulting within the plateau is associated with strike-slip and normal mechanisms. The plateau extends in an east–west direction evidenced by north–south striking grabens, strike-slip faulting and GPS data. In the northern region, strike-slip faulting constitutes the dominant style of tectonics while in the south, the dominant tectonic domain is east-west extension on north–south trending normal faults. Seven north–south trending rifts and normal faults were first discovered in southern Tibet during the late 1970s and early 1980s using satellite imagery. They began formation when extension occurred some 4 to 8 million years ago.
  
  The largest earthquakes in Tibet, with magnitudes of 8.0 or similar, occur along strike-slip faults. Normal faulting earthquakes are smaller in magnitudes; in 2008, five normal faulting earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.9 to 7.1 occurred in various locations across the plateau. These earthquakes occurred on faults with dip angles of 40 to 50 degrees and extended to a depth of 10 to 15 km (6.2 to 9.3 mi). A 2010 study in Geophysical Journal International observed within the past 43 years that 85 percent of the seismic moment released during normal faulting earthquakes occurred in areas of more than 4.5 to 5 km (2.8 to 3.1 mi) elevation. This may suggest normal faulting earthquakes are dependent on gravitational potential energy to trigger these ruptures.
  
  Since 1949, 37 earthquakes of M 5.0–5.9, 7 of M 6.0–6.9, and 1 of M 7.0–7.9 have been recorded within 200 km (120 mi) of the epicentre. It was the deadliest earthquake in the immediate area since a M 6.6 event occurred in Yadong County on 20 November 1980. That earthquake had an epicenter 176 km (109 mi) away and killed 3 people in the county. The 7 January 2025 earthquake was also the largest in the area since a M 7.1 struck 171 km (106 mi) to the south on 26 April 2015.