Haiyuan earthquake in Dec. 1920 is one of the most devastating earthquakes worldwide, drawing scientific attentions to the Haiyuan fault active on the northeast edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Prof Liu Jing of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research combined force from Institute of Geology China Earthquake Administration, China Center for Earthquake Disaster Emergency and Sar, Insitut de Physique du Globe de Paris in carrying out the study of paleo-seismic trough along the Haiyuan Fault in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in Aug. 2007.

To familiarize themselves with possibility of recurrence of similar disastrous earthquakes, and provide reliable data in evaluating earthquake danger, the joint research team focused on sites selection to better reveal the rhythmicity and planar structure of ground layers. They also inspect the micro-geomorphology around the Haiyuan fault to shed light on the 1920 Haiyuan Earthquake. Besides, they sampled from the dug profile and would date and further analyze the result for more paleo-seismic events in history.