According to a report published on November 11, 2026, the International Union of Geological Sciences had recently announced its third list of 100 world geological heritage sites in Portugal. Three sites in China were included: the Xianshuihe Fault, the Yunyang Middle Jurassic dinosaur fossil assemblage and the Dabie Mountains Triassic ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt. The additions brought China’s total on the list to 13, the report said, citing the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The Xianshuihe Fault was listed in the structural geology category. Stretching about 400 kilometres across western Sichuan on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, it preserves fault landforms and evidence of earthquakes. According to the report, researchers at the China Geological Survey’s Institute of Geology have found that the fault combines long-term creep with stick-slip movement. Their work provides a basis for studying earthquakes and related geological hazards within a continent.