Fig. 1
The topography and active tectonic blocks of Mainland China and surroundings. White heavy solid lines mark plate boundaries. Blue lines mark the six level I blocks, which are divided by Level I faults. WKL West Kunlun, Altyn Altyn, HYQL Haiyuan-Qilian, MLM Mount Min-Mount Longmen, ANXJ Anning River-Xiaojiang, RR Red River, LR Lancang River fault, QLDB Qinling Dabie, HLS Mount Helan, YS Mount Yin, YBH Mount Yan-Bohai fault, TL Tanlu fault. Red lines mark Level II block boundaries. Other tectonic units mentioned in the text are also marked, such as JB Junggar Basin, TB Tarim Basin, SB Sichuan Basin, SLB Songliao Basin. Blue arrows mark the GPS velocity vectors (mm/year) with respect to the stable Eurasia