In 1585,a MS5 3/4 earthquake occurred in the south of Chaoxian county,Anhui Province. The parameters of this earthquake were reported differently in various versions of earthquake catalogues. According to detailed textual research on the historic records of this earthquake,the epicenter location of the earthquake was further confirmed by means of seismo-geological field investigations in the Chaohu-Tongling region along the western Yangtze River valleys. Shallow seismic prospecting and drilling methods were applied in studying the buried fault. The possibility of the existence of seismogenic faults and fault activity in the western Yangtze River area were analyzed in depth,and the causative tectonic background of the 1585 MS5 3/4 south Chaoxian earthquake was studied. The results of this study indicate that the Yanjiaqiao-Fengshahu fault,which was active in the early to mid-Pleistocene,is possibly the causative structure of this earthquake. To identifying the seismogenic structure of the 1585 south Chaoxian earthquake will help gain more knowledge about the tectonic background of moderate and small earthquake activity in Eastern China. In 1585, a MS5 3/4 earthquake occurred in the south of Chaoxian county, Anhui Province. The parameters of this earthquake were reported differently in various versions of earthquake catalogs. According to detailed textual research on the historic records of this earthquake, the epicenter location of the earthquake was further confirmed by means of seismo-geological field investigations in the Chaohu-Tongling region along the western Yangtze River valleys. Shallose prospecting and drilling methods were applied in studying the buried fault. The possibility of the existence of seismogenic faults and fault activity in the western Yangtze River area were analyzed in depth, and the causative tectonic background of the 1585 MS5 3/4 south Chaoxian earthquake was studied. The results of this study that that the Yanjiaqiao-Fengshahu fault, which was active in the early to mid-Pleistocene, is possibly the causative structure of this earthquake he 1585 south Chaoxian earthquake will help gain more knowledge about the tectonic background of Moderate and small earthquake activity in Eastern China.