The paper introduces the tectonic background,focal mechanism and distribution of aftershock of the Wenchuan earthquake on May 12,2008. The earthquake is considered to be the result of long-term interaction between the eastward movement of the Bayan Har Block and the Sichuan Basin. Most of the earthquake energy was released in an area (the seismic source body) 330km long,52km wide and 20km deep over 100s. Energy release in the source body was extremely uneven,and strong ground motion in the epicenter area shows obvious asymmetrical character in the time and space scale. The high-intensity area is distributed along the source body,and the intensity distribution bears an obvious anomalous characteristic. The investigation results indicate that more than 90 percent of casualties caused by this earthquake were in the areas of intensity IX or above. Houses,schools and hospitals etc. suffered serious damage. Lifelines such as transportation,water conservation etc. also suffered significant damage. Besides,earthquake-triggered avalanches,landslides,mud-rock flows and so on were extremely serious. The tremendous earthquake disaster highlighted the deficiencies in disaster prevention and mitigation management,scientific earthquake research,technology and application of earthquake disaster prevention,and publicity of earthquake preparedness and disaster reduction.
