The earthquake had an epicenter on the Myanmar side of the border, located in the mountainous region of Shan State.

The low death toll from this earthquake was attributed to an early warning issued prior to it happening.

Precursor events including foreshocks and some seismic anomalies led to an evacuation of the area before the mainshock struck.

[10] The earthquake occurred as a result of dextral strike-slip faulting at a shallow depth in the Shan Plateau.

[10] Modelling of the earthquake suggest most of the displacements in the southeastern rupture zone occurred at depths of 0–6 km (0.0–3.7 mi).

In the northwestern rupture, the fault had a maximum slip of 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) detected at 5 km (3.1 mi) depth.

According to the Yunnan Seismic Network Center, in the 100 days after the Ms  7.3 mainshock, some 872 aftershocks were recorded with a magnitude greater than 2.0 ML .

Between 19 September 1994 and 12 May 1995, a cluster of earthquakes measuring 4.7 Ms  or greater was detected on the Myanmar-China border region.

[1][4] After the 6.2 ML  foreshock on July 10, the Yunnan Seismological Bureau dispatched a team to the region closest to the epicenter.

Thirty-nine townships and 2,242 villages across five counties; Menglian, Ximeng, Lancang, Cangyuan and Menghai were located within the earthquake zone, impacting an estimated 127,420 households housing 577,188 people.

A preliminary report by the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs on July 12 said two women died of heart attacks while 36 individuals were injured, two of them seriously.

[15] According to an estimate by Xinhua news agency on July 19, the total damage caused by earthquake was US$36 million.

At least 329 schools, 143 hospitals, 200,000 homes, 165 government offices and more than 500 factories and military bases in Menglian, Ximeng, Lancang and Cangyuan counties were significantly damaged by the quake.