A team of Chinese seismologists has sounded a warning over potential new waves of cataclysmic earthquakes across China and in neighboring regions and potentially drawn an implied connection between seismic movements and variations in the rotation of the Earth.
The warning comes from a new paper by Zhu Hongbin, who is a senior engineer at the Beijing Earthquake Agency. The paper, published on March 20 in the Journal of Geodesy and Geodynamics, looked at more than 150 years of data on earthquakes, starting in 1879. The researchers found six large earthquake “active periods” and discovered a pattern linking these to changes in Earth’s rotational speed tracked by variations in the Length of Day (LOD).
The changing rotational speed of Earth, as per the research, relocates tectonic stress fields, and this in itself adds to the seismic risk. The scientists opine that the ongoing sixth cycle is focusing on areas surrounding the Bayan Har block, which could potentially enhance quake risk in areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, and the eastern Himalayan front.
The researchers mentioned that stress is accumulating in locked parts of the Longmenshan Fault ground zero for the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Moreover, measurements by GPS suggest India’s tectonic plate is moving northward more quickly, increasing tension in the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis.
The research was released merely days before an intense 7.9 level earthquake hit Myanmar, which fell on a shifting point in the Earth’s turn cycle, upholding the investigation’s assertions over risky areas such as these occasions.
Even with the discoveries, there are some who are still not convinced. Gao Mengtan, a senior researcher with the China Earthquake Administration, pushed back with the observation that global seismic activity thus far in 2025 is below average, and, “There’s no evidence Earth has entered a shaking mode.”
Nevertheless, Zhu’s group cautions that present-day stress field patterns indicate the region could be moving into the preliminary phases of a novel seismic cycle.
