The active tectonics of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis and surrounding regions

Source parameters of 53 moderate-sized earthquakes, provide the data set for an analysis of the style of deformation and kinematics in the region of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. Focal mechanisms of Eastern Himalayan events show oblique thrust. Earthquakes near the Sagaing fault show strike-slip mechanisms with right-lateral slip. Earthquakes on its northern splays, however, indicate predominant thrusting, evidence that the dextral motion on the Sagaing fault terminates in a zone of thrust faulting at the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. Velocities calculated relative to south China stationary show that the entire area, extending from 20°N-36°N, within deforming Asia, constitutes a distributed dextral shear zone with clockwise rotations up to 1.7°/m.y., maximum in the region of the Eastern Syntaxis proper. -from Authors