Abstract: The M_S7.1 Yushu earthquake, Qinghai occurred on 14th April, 2010 is related to the activity of the Ganzi-Yushu fault. Yushu earthquake caused surface ruptures and building damages distributed along the Ganzi-Yushu fault. The characteristics of quaternary activities of Ganzi-Yushu fault, such as fault cliff, pull-apart basin and left laterally faulted gullies, are analyzed based on Landsat ETM+ and SPOT images. High resolution aerial photographs acquired after the earthquake revealed that the surface ruptures mainly occurred along the Yushu segment of Ganzi-Yushu fault and the surface ruptures occurred to the north-west of Yushu are characterized by left-lateral and right-step features. Surface ruptures occurred between Yushu to Sangka segment are characterized by widely distributed cracks of mountains. Surface ruptures occurred to the west of Sangka are characterized by thrust features. Collapsed building, damaged aqueduct and mountain landslides are mainly distributed along the fault. Severe building collapse occurred in the west and south part of Yushu city. Results show that the spatial distribution of surface ruptures and earthquake damages is controlled by the fault.

Key words: The 2010 Yushu M_S7.1 earthquake, Surface ruptures, High resolution remote sensing, Ganzi-Yushu fault