Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 20, 2026

Red River Fault

The Red River Fault or Song Hong Fault is a major fault in Yunnan, China and Vietnam which accommodates continental China's southward movement. It is coupled with that of the Sagaing Fault in Burma, which accommodates the Indian plate's northward movement, with the land (Indochina) in between faulted and twisted clockwise. It was responsible for the 1970 Tonghai earthquake.

Last revised
Jul 20, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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Topographic map showing the Red River and fault source ↗
The Red River (Nansha Reservoir) seen from the slope of its deep valley, south of Potou Township, Jianshui County source ↗

The Red River Fault or Song Hong Fault (Vietnamese: Đới Đứt Gãy Sông Hồng) is a major fault in Yunnan, China and Vietnam which accommodates continental China's (Yangtze plate) southward movement.1 It is coupled with that of the Sagaing Fault in Burma, which accommodates the Indian plate's northward movement, with the land (Indochina) in between faulted and twisted clockwise. It was responsible for the 1970 Tonghai earthquake.

It is named after the Red River which runs through the valley eroded along the fault trace.

The Red River Fault was a sinistral strike-slip shear zone until Miocene times when it became reactivated as a brittle dextral strike-slip fault.23

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Earth Observatory of Singapore, NTU. "Myanmar earthquake of March 24, 2011 – Magnitude 6.8". Archived from the original on 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  2. Watkinson, I.; Elders, C.; Hall, R. (2008). "The kinematic history of the Khlong Marui and Ranong Faults, southern Thailand". Journal of Structural Geology. 30 (12): 1554–1571. doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2008.09.001.
  3. Trinh, P.T.; Liem, N.V.; Huong, N.V.; Vinh, H.Q.; Thorn, B.V.; Thao, B.T.; Tan, M.T.; Hiang, Nguyen (2012). "Late Quaternary tectonics and seismotectonics along the Red River fault zone, North Vietnam". Earth-Science Reviews. 114 (3–4): 224–235. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.06.008.