An earthquake occurred in China on 14 November 2001 at 09:26 UTC (17:26 local time), with an epicenter near Kokoxili, close to the border between Qinghai and Xinjiang in a remote mountainous region.

[3] The Kunlun fault is one of the major sinistral strike-slip structures that accommodate the eastward motion of the Tibetan Plateau relative to the Eurasian plate.

This motion is caused by the lateral spreading of the zone of thickened crust associated with the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates.

The region of co-seismic deformation (i.e. that occurred during the earthquake) is unusually large, with significant faulting being observed up to 60 km from the main rupture trace.

It has been suggested that the unusually wide zone of co-seismic deformation is a direct result of the supershear rupture propagation.