Spatial variations of current tectonic stress field and its relationship to the structure and rheology of lithosphere around the Bohai Sea, North China

•Focal mechanism solutions of 62 earthquakes in circum-Bohai-Sea area are presented.•Circum-Bohai-Sea area is predominantly under a strike-slip faulting stress regime.•Maximum principle axes are oriented horizontally in NEE-SWW or nearly E-W direction.•Localized normal faulting stress regimes are observed in Tangshan and Haicheng areas.•The normal faulting stress regimes are caused by strike-slip transtension.