The Maidan fault, which is an east‐northeast trending fault in the southwestern Tian Shan, is a sinistral reverse fault that extends more than 400 km in length and constitutes the boundary between the southwestern Tian Shan and the Tarim Basin. Here we quantify its late Quaternary activity based on the interpretations of high‐resolution remote sensing images and detailed field investigations. In the Aheqi valley, an ~150‐km‐long active fault can be divided into northeastern and southwestern segments based on variations in its strike and geometry. Based on the analysis of its offset geomorphological features and the dating of Quaternary sediments, we estimate the late Quaternary shortening rate across the fault to be 1.19 ± 0.25 mm/year, the sinistral strike‐slip rate to be 1.56 ± 0.64 mm/year, and the oblique thrust rate to be 1.96 ± 0.69 mm/year. Active tectonics, GPS crustal deformation data, and seismic activity indicate that the deformation in the southwestern Tian Shan is characterized by out‐of‐sequence thrust faulting and folding. Late Quaternary deformation has been partitioned into low‐angle thrust faulting along the Kalpin Tagh foreland fold and thrust system and sinistral reverse faulting along the high‐angle range‐front Maidan fault. The sinistral Maidan fault acts as a nucleation point for slip partitioning system, which can be viewed as positive flower structure with its surrounding thrust faults.

The spatial pattern of slip rates along the Haiyuan fault zone may reveal deformation process along the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. By applying the 3D_Fault_Offsets code, we reevaluated the displacements of offset markers displaced by the Laohushan fault, the central segment of the Haiyuan fault zone. We introduced the Bayesian Age Model approach to provide optimum age control for the preserved offset markers. Multiple offsets and ages constrain the late Pleistocene slip rate to 4.4–4.8 mm/yr. The spatial pattern of strike‐slip rates of the Haiyuan fault zone indicates that the Madongshan and Liupanshan could be the main uplifts that absorbed the left‐lateral motion along the Haiyuan fault zone, due to a restraining bend between the Haiyuan and Qishan‐Mazhao fault zones. Furthermore, uniform slip rates along the main segments and slip rates decreasing toward fault tips are widely observed along some intensively studied strike‐slip faults, such as the Altyn Tagh, Kunlun, Death Valley‐Fish Lake Valley, Denali, San Andreas and Alpine faults. The results suggest that the constancy or similarity of the slip rates along the strike is closely related to block rotation and internal deformation, and the slip rates of strike‐slip faults usually change at the fault tip area converting from horizontal to vertical motion. In addition, strike‐slip fault can also take slip off of the main fault and distribute it between multiple active parallel strands.

We studied the 2019 Mw6.4 and Mw7.1 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence, using Sentinel‐1 and ALOS‐2 coseismic interferograms and subpixel offsets to retrieve the three‐dimensional (3‐D) surface displacements. By inverting the 3‐D displacements, optimal dip angles of the earthquake faults and the slip model were obtained. The interferometric synthetic aperture radar‐based slip model supplemented with the analysis of GPS data shows that the Mw6.4 event ruptured two orthogonal faults and its major geodetic moment was released by sinistral motion on a NE‐SW trending fault that dips 78° NW. Right‐lateral slip on NW‐SE trending subvertical faults was responsible for the Mw7.1 earthquake. Postseismic analysis with U.S. Geological Survey earthquake catalog and GPS time series at site P595 shows that the postseismic surface deformation following the Mw7.1 event has similar temporal patterns with the postseismic moment release, but requires more energy. This implies that the early aftershocks were likely controlled by rapid afterslip following the mainshock.

The Pamir Frontal Thrust along the leading edge of the northern Pamir is characterized by multiple earthquakes with moment magnitudes of 6.5–7.1. Geometric characteristics of the Pamir Frontal Thrust corresponding to these earthquakes and to future seismic hazards, however, remain largely unexplored. This study focuses on the easternmost segment of the Pamir Frontal Thrust, where theM_w6.9 Wuqia earthquake occurred in 1985. Through interpretation of available two‐dimensional seismic reflection profiles and surface mapping data, we develop a three‐dimensional geometric model for the fault plane. Our results illustrate that, at depth, the fault plane is separated by a subhorizontal detachment horizon into upper and lower ramps, and both ramps are significantly segmented, along strike, by transfer faults or lateral ramps as well. Such along‐strike and downdip segmentation of the thrust sheet apparently plays a significant control on seismic rupture process of the Wuqia earthquake and can well explain why the region is characterized by moderate‐magnitude (M_w6.5–7.1) events. Additionally, our study helps quantify key constraints on the Cenozoic deformation and evolution of the northeastern Pamir and, specifically, determines a total shortening of ≤43 km at the Pamir front: accommodating about 15% of the total indentation of the Pamir range into central Asia.

High‐resolution topographic data sets have now become increasingly available, which allows for remotely measuring and analyzing offset features and their associated slip distributions at a very high resolution along a fault, hence providing important insights into the fault behavior. The West Helanshan Fault is a Holocene active right‐lateral strike‐slip fault located at the junction of the Tibetan Plateau, Alashan, and Ordos blocks. In this study, a 2‐m‐resolution DEM of the West Helanshan Fault was built from the WorldView‐3 stereo satellite images (0.5 m). Combined with the high‐resolution topography acquired from the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) images based on the Structure from Motion (SfM) method, a total of 180 lateral offsets and 201 vertical displacements were acquired along ~50 km of the fault. By statistical analysis of the offset observations and constructing the cumulative slip profiles, we conclude that large paleoearthquakes have produced characteristic slip accumulation along the fault with a right‐lateral slip of ~3 m and a vertical slip of ~1 m, rupturing at least two segments of the fault simultaneously, which corresponds to a moment magnitude ofM_w7.1 ~ 7.5. The cumulative slip profiles suggest that the fault has likely propagated northward over its lifetime, and the south segment may be the most mature section of the fault where larger coseismic slip of earthquake ruptures may occur. The ratio of lateral to vertical displacement has remained constant (~3:1) through multiple successive events, indicating that the fault has maintained the same kinematic style over the last few thousands of years.

The northeastern Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings are a tectonically complex region resulting from the continuing collision of India with Eurasia. We studied the tectonic deformation of this region using a GPS block model, which was produced using the most recently published, dense, precise, and complete GPS velocities available combined with a detailed fault geometry. The comparison between our preferred model with numerous faults and a model with fewer faults demonstrates the need for inclusion of lesser active faults affords a closer examination of strain partitioning. The predicted senses of motion and slip rates of active faults in our preferred model are consistent with the geological estimates, supporting the assumption that the decadal GPS slip rates are representative of millennial‐scale geologic slip rates. The observed fault kinematics in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings can be interpreted as the consequence of relative motions between different blocks and block rotations.