Yunnan, China Earthquake Epicenter

On August 3, 2014, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck in southern China's Yunnan province, toppling thousands of homes and causing numerous casualties. Hardest hit was Zhaotang City, located 18 miles (29 kilometers) east of the epicenter. This temblor was more damaging than a similar one two years earlier in the same region. The region where the quake occurred is shown in this perspective view from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. It depicts vegetation in shades of red. The image looks toward the northwest and was acquired March 16, 2009. The star indicates the quake's epicenter location at 27.2 degrees north, 104.4 degrees east.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Flooding in Ningming, China by Typhoon Rammasun

Floodwaters caused by Typhoon Rammasun started to recede in northern Vietnam and southern China, but not before causing widespread flooding in cities and villages, triggering landslides and collapsed buildings in addition to the flooding. This ASTER image of Ningming, China shows sediment-laden river water and the flooded areas of the city in brown. The image was acquired July 24, 2014, covers an area of 9.4 by 13.8 kilometers, and is located at 22.1 degrees north, 107.1 degrees east.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Note: For more information, see PIA18628: NASA Spacecraft Eyes China Flooding.

Baektu Mountain, China-North Korea

Baektu Mountain is an active volcano on the border between North Korea and China. Rising to 2744 m, its summit caldera is filled with a crater lake, Heaven Lake. The crater was created by a colossal eruption in 970, spreading volcanic ash as far as northern Japan. Its last eruption was in 1903. The image was acquired August 19, 2003, and is located at 42 degrees north, 128 degrees east.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Poyang Lake, China

Image of China’s Poyang lake from the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on the Sentinel-1A satellite, acquired on 12 May 2014 in dual polarization. The radar gathers information in either horizontal or vertical polarizations, shown here as a composite (HH in red, HV in green and HH-HV in blue).

Poyang is just one of the many project areas of the collaborative Chinese-European Dragon Program, which marked its ten-year anniversary this week. Read more.

Image credit: ESA

India

From Sri Lanka to the Himalayas. Image acquired by Proba-V on 14 March 2014.

Image credit: ESA/VITO

Karst Landscape in Guangxi Province, China

Karst topography is a geological formation shaped by the dissolution of layers of soluble rock such as limestone. Mature karst landscapes, where more bedrock has been removed than remains, may result in karst towers, or haystack/eggbox landscapes. Beneath the surface, complex underground drainage systems (such as karst aquifers) and extensive caves and cavern systems may form. A good example is found in Guangxi Province in southeast China. The image was acquired December 3, 2013, covers an area of 28 by 31.5 km, and is located at 24 degrees north, 107.9 degrees east.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Tianjin, China

Tianjin, China, lies around 100 km southeast of Beijing near China’s eastern coast. At the top right of this image – taken from the International Space Station at night – is the Tianjin Port welcoming ships from the Bohai Bay.

The street lighting in Tianjin is interesting as it shows two different colors, presumably from different lighting technologies. At night the dual urban areas of Tianjin show up clearly with the center and old city in the middle and the newer urban city of Binhai to the right along with the port.

The other two lit-up areas in this image are the cities of Wuqing on the road to Beijing heading North (to the left here) and Jinnan below Binhai.

Tianjin is the fourth largest city of China with over 12 million inhabitants. This image was taken by an astronaut from the International Space Station using Nightpod: ESA’s camera aid that tracks the motion of Earth as our planet flies underneath the orbital outpost at 28,800 km/h. The resulting images are sharper than if an astronaut compensates for the Earth’s rotation by hand.

Photo credit: ESA/NASA

Cloudy Fishing Over China

This Nightpod image taken from the International Space Station is not an interstellar cloud formation but artificial light over a cloudy China.

Nightpod is a camera stand that helps astronauts take sharper images of night-time Earth by compensating for the motion of the Station as it orbits our planet at 28,800 km/h.

This image was taken as the Space Station was flying northwest over the Chinese coast. The lights from cities or fishing boats are dispersed by clouds to create the Nebula-like effect. An astronaut from Expedition 30/31 took the picture on 21 March 2012 as the orbital outpost flew towards Shanghai, China.

Photo credit: ESA/NASA

Qarhan Salt Lake, China

This false-color composite image from the Kompsat-2 satellite shows part of the Qarhan Salt Lake on the Tibetan Plateau in China.

There are multiple salt lakes across this region, but Qarhan’s 5850 sq km make it the largest. It holds an estimated 60 billion tonnes of salt, and is also a major production base for potassium and magnesium.

In this image, we can see division of the salt evaporation ponds. While the false color makes them appear blue, salt ponds naturally range in color depending on their algal concentration and salinity.

The nearest city, Golmud, sits about 50 km to the southwest (not pictured).

This image was acquired on 4 December 2008 by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s Kompsat-2.

ESA supports Kompsat as a Third Party Mission, meaning it uses its ground infrastructure and expertise to acquire, process and distribute data to users.

Photo credit: KARI/ESA

Chinese Fishing Vessels

Cities and street lights are not the only things visible from the International Space Station at night. This picture taken with the automated camera aid Nightpod shows Chinese fishing boats using bright lights on the South-China Sea to attract fish to their nets.

The village at the center is unidentified. The image was taken by an astronaut on Expedition 30 and the frame number is 172306.

Photo credit: ESA/NASA

Beijing, China

Beijing, Capital of China, photographed by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli during the celebrations of the Chinese New Year, "Spring Festival" on 2 February 2011. Do you see any fireworks?

Photo credit: ESA/NASA

Location of the April 20, 2013 Sichuan Earthquake

A powerful magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Sichuan Province in southwest China on April 20, 2013, killing scores and injuring thousands, according to BBC News. Villages and roads near the epicenter were left in ruins, hampering rescue efforts. The earthquake occurred along the same fault that ruptured in 2008, killing tens of thousands and leaving some 5,000,000 people homeless. This perspective image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft, acquired in 2003, highlights the epicenter of the new earthquake. Vegetation is displayed in red; clouds and snow are in white.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Yarlung Zangpo Grand Canyon, Tibet

The Yarlung Zangpo Grand Canyon (or Tsangpo Gorge) in Tibet is the deepest canyon in the world, and longer than the Grand Canyon. As the river passes between the peaks of Namcha Barwa (7,782 m) and Gyala Peri (7,234 m) it reaches a maximum depth of 6,009 m. In 2002, seven kayakers were the first westerners to navigate the entire gorge. The image was acquired February 25, 2004, and is located near 29.7 degrees north latitude, 95 degrees east longitude.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Three Gorges Dam, China

The Three Gorges Dam spans the Yangtze River in east-central China, and is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity, with its vast reservoir stretching for 660 km. Since its completion in 2008, over 1.3 million people were relocated; 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1350 villages were submerged; and the cost of the project exceeded $40 billion. According to the BBC News, landslides and bank collapses upriver from the dam may force authorities to move another 100,000 people. The image was acquired June 24, 2009, and is located at 30.8 degrees north latitude, 111 degrees east longitude.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

The Tibetan Plateau

Frozen lakes dotting the Tibetan Plateau in Central Asia are pictured in this image, acquired on 30 January 2012 by ESA’s Envisat satellite.

To its south Tibet is boarded by the Himalayan mountain range – part of which is visible in the lower-left corner of the image. To the northwest, we can see part of the Kunlun mountains, separating the plateau from the Tarim Basin. Both salt- and freshwater lakes are visible across the steppe – many of which freeze for many months of the year.

Photo credit: ESA

Baiyun Ebo, China

A mine in Baiyun Ebo, Inner Mongolia, China is the site of almost half the world's rare earth production. China is responsible for over 95% of global production of rare earth elements. These elements are critical ingredients in catalytic converters, cell phones, televisions, lasers, magnets, batteries, and other high-tech gizmos. China's export restrictions have led the US, Japan and the European Union to complain to the World Trade Organization, claiming China was violating trade agreements. The US at one time was a leading producer of rare earths, but most of the mines have been closed. Recently, several US companies are in the process of attempting to re-open these mines and resume mining of rare earths. The image covers an area of 15 x 19 km, was acquired on June 30, 2006, and is located near 41.8 degrees north latitude, 110 degrees east longitude.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Shanghai

The Chinese city of Shanghai sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River where it empties into the East China Sea. To the north is Chongming Island and the smaller Changxing Island just below. These are important areas for agriculture – evident in this image by the patchwork of croplands. The dark area hugging Changxing Island is the Qingcaosha Reservoir. This SPOT-5 image was acquired on 25 June 2009, with a resolution of 10 m.

Photo credit: CNES, Spot Image, ESA