Basic Overview
The Kalaxiange'er Earthquake Fault Zone is reputed as a natural open-air geological museum, located 30 km southeast of Fuyun County, Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang, within the boundary of Keketuohai UNESCO Global Geopark, with an altitude of 1,889 meters above sea level. It is the intact surface relic left by the devastating M8.0 Fuyun Earthquake that struck at 05:18 on August 11, 1931, also named the Keketuohai-Ertai Earthquake Fault Zone by geologists. Ranked among the world’s most complete and typical surface earthquake ruins, this fault belt is honored as a natural geological shrine by geological researchers globally.
卡拉先格尔断裂裂隙
Geological Forming Parameters & Landform Features
Overall scale: The total length of the fault fracture stretches 176 km. The ordinary fracture width is around 10 meters, while the maximum width reaches 4 km right at the seismic epicenter (Kalaxiange'er core area)抖音百科.
Core collapse landscape: A gigantic slump slope sits in the central zone, measuring 1.5 km long, 350 m wide, with a vertical sliding drop of 63 meters. Hard bedrocks are ripped open by seismic force, forming major fissures up to 6 meters wide and 10 meters deep. More than 20 kilometers of mountain mass slumped integrally, forming a series of standard seismic landforms including fault scarps, bead-shaped sag ponds, pressure bulges and tensional cracks. Seen from aerial view, the linear fracture meanders through mountain valleys just like a giant dormant dragon.
Earthquake influence scope: The strong shaking spread across a circular area of 2,500 km in diameter, with seismic signals detected worldwide. Benefiting from sparse local population back then, casualties were relatively low despite the massive magnitude of the quake. The whole fault system suffered little artificial damage and mild natural weathering, preserving nearly all primary seismic structural traces perfectly after over 90 years.
Scientific Value as a Natural Geological Museum
As a rare intact outcrop of intraplate strong earthquake rupture, the site bears irreplaceable academic values:
It provides direct field evidence for studying intraplate tectonic movement, regional stress field distribution and fault dynamic mechanisms in Central Asia;
It records complete surface deformation responses under strong seismic force, supporting researches on geomorphology, hydrology and vegetation changes triggered by earthquakes;
It serves as an open teaching classroom for universities, geological surveys and earthquake administration departments, integrating geological popular science, disaster prevention education and field geological practice into one system.
Tourism & Visiting Tips
Core experience: Visitors can intuitively observe sharp rock fractures, displaced rock masses and huge sliding cliffs, and directly perceive the tremendous destructive power of crustal movement.
Recommended visiting duration: 30–60 minutes; best visiting season: June to October (dry season with stable road conditions and clear landscape visibility).
Cultural attribute: Combined with Keketuohai’s granite landforms and mineral relics, this fault zone forms a complete geological story chain recording magmatic activity, tectonic evolution and seismic hazards over hundreds of millions of years
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