The major faults in Hong Kong and its adjacent region can be classifie
d into three sets, striking east-northeast, northeast and northwest, r
espectively. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model to evaluate
the fault movement potential (FMP) based on the relationship between
fault geometrical characteristics and regional tectonic stress field.
The results show that the east-northeast striking Dangan Islands fault
zone and the northwest striking Lau Fau Shan-East Lamma Channel fault
zone are of the highest movement potentials in the area. Their inters
ecting area located to the east of the Dangan Island is inferred to ha
ve the possibility of generating destructive earthquakes. To the north
, the movement potentials of the northeast striking Lau Fau Shan fault
, Lo Wu fault and San Tin fault of the Lo Wu-Tuen Mun fault zone, espe
cially their converging part near Lo Wu, are also relatively high.