The magnitude of the earthquake was 6.1 on the moment magnitude scale,[16] with an intensity of up to VII (Very Strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The quake was the result of a strike-slip fault, whose fault plane has a southwest-northeast strike.[27]
Seismicity in this region of southeast Asia is the direct result of the orogenic activity of the Himalayan mountain belt. Due to the complex interaction between the Eurasian Plate and Indo-Australian Plate from Afghanistan in the west to Burma and China in the east, many shallow sub-surface faults are present in both southwest China and neighbouring Myanmar.