Abstract The intense seismicity observed across East Asia, particularly in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, cannot be adequately explained by classical plate tectonics. Instead, the concept of active block tectonics—viewing the continental lithosphere as a mosaic of deformable yet kinematically independent blocks bounded by active faults—provided new insights into the intracontinental deformation. In this study, we integrate active tectonic, seismological, and geophysical data sets to delineate a hierarchical system of first‐ to fourth‐order active block tectonics models in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Block rotations and internal strain rates are quantified using the TDEFNODE modeling framework applied to GNSS velocity data. The results reveal that present‐day deformation is partitioned among multiple blocks and accommodated through both rigid block rotation and distributed internal strain, reflecting strong lithospheric heterogeneity and mechanical segmentation. Based on these observations, we propose updated criteria for delineating active blocks in continental interiors. Our findings provide new insights into the late‐stage evolution of orogenic systems and establish a seismologically validated, geophysically constrained framework for interpreting intracontinental deformation and assessing seismic hazards in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.
Zhang et al. (2025) studied this question.