Overview of historical earthquake disasters in Xizang Autonomous Region from 1949 to 2020

Earthquake is one of the natural disasters that pose a serious threat to the safety of human life and social development. Earthquake disasters are listed as an important disaster type in the first national comprehensive risk assessment of natural disasters. Clarifying historical earthquake disaster data and understanding the development trend are of great significance for earthquake prevention and scientific plans to avoid the disaster threats. According to the earthquake disaster risk assessment implementation plan in Xizang Autonomous Region, a comprehensive collection of materials was conducted, including the latest earthquake catalog officially published by the earthquake department, officially published compilations of earthquake damage reports, and earthquake report data summarized by the Earthquake Agency of Xizang Autonomous Region. This included 45 items such as earthquake disaster information tables, data cards, earthquake disaster survey materials, damage assessment reports, summaries of earthquake emergency response and disposal work. A thorough investigation, organization, and compilation of annual historical earthquake disaster statistics for each county-level administrative region from 1978 to 2020 were carried out, establishing a long-term spatial-temporal dataset of major historical earthquake disasters since 1949, which contains complete, detailed, and standardized data on intensity, scope, and disaster conditions. There were over 600 earthquakes with a magnitude of MS5.0 or above during the study period, causing 43 earthquake disasters, with a disaster rate of approximately 7.2%. Between 1949 and 2020, there were 5 major earthquakes that caused significant casualties and economic losses. The spatial distribution of destructive earthquakes is primarily controlled by tectonic systems. However, based on the actual conditions in the Xizang Autonomous Region, it is significantly influenced by the population distribution and the national economic situation of the areas where the earthquakes occur.