First of all, because the southwest of China is at the junction of the hard ocean plate and the Eurasian plate, the Indian Ocean plate has been diving under the Eurasian plate to form an active crustal movement zone, and Gansu is adjacent to it, which is greatly affected?
In addition, Gansu Province belongs to four tectonic units: the part north of Hongshishan fault zone belongs to Tianshan Xingmeng orogenic belt; Qingyang area in the north and easternmost part of Hexi Corridor to Jingtai Line belongs to North China Platform. To the south is Qilian orogenic belt; South of Zekuwushan fault is Qinling orogenic belt. The staggered distribution of fault zones and orogenic belts makes earthquakes frequent.