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What caused the major earthquake in Qinghai’s Yushu region in 2010?

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The 2010 earthquake in the Yushu region of Qinghai was caused by the southeastern movement of the Plateau of Tibet along the Yushu strike-slip fault, which is part of the Xianshuihe fault system.1

This event occurred within a tectonically complex zone shaped by the ongoing collision between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. This massive convergence is responsible for the uplift of the Himalayas and the Plateau of Tibet, leaving the region subject to frequent seismic activity.12