scholarly journals A holistic seismotectonic model of Delhi region

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brijesh K. Bansal ◽  
Kapil Mohan ◽  
Mithila Verma ◽  
Anup K. Sutar

AbstractDelhi region in northern India experiences frequent shaking due to both far-field and near-field earthquakes from the Himalayan and local sources, respectively. The recent M3.5 and M3.4 earthquakes of 12th April 2020 and 10th May 2020 respectively in northeast Delhi and M4.4 earthquake of 29th May 2020 near Rohtak (~ 50 km west of Delhi), followed by more than a dozen aftershocks, created panic in this densely populated habitat. The past seismic history and the current activity emphasize the need to revisit the subsurface structural setting and its association with the seismicity of the region. Fault plane solutions are determined using data collected from a dense network in Delhi region. The strain energy released in the last two decades is also estimated to understand the subsurface structural environment. Based on fault plane solutions, together with information obtained from strain energy estimates and the available geophysical and geological studies, it is inferred that the Delhi region is sitting on two contrasting structural environments: reverse faulting in the west and normal faulting in the east, separated by the NE-SW trending Delhi Hardwar Ridge/Mahendragarh-Dehradun Fault (DHR-MDF). The WNW-ESE trending Delhi Sargoda Ridge (DSR), which intersects DHR-MDF in the west, is inferred as a thrust fault. The transfer of stress from the interaction zone of DHR-MDF and DSR to nearby smaller faults could further contribute to the scattered shallow seismicity in Delhi region.

1983 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 813-829
Author(s):  
P. Yi-Fa Huang ◽  
N. N. Biswas

abstract This paper describes the characteristics of the Rampart seismic zone by means of the aftershock sequence of the Rampart earthquake (ML = 6.8) which occurred in central Alaska on 29 October 1968. The magnitudes of the aftershocks ranged from about 1.6 to 4.4 which yielded a b value of 0.96 ± 0.09. The locations of the aftershocks outline a NNE-SSW trending aftershock zone about 50 km long which coincides with the offset of the Kaltag fault from the Victoria Creek fault. The rupture zone dips steeply (≈80°) to the west and extends from the surface to a depth of about 10 km. Fault plane solutions for a group of selected aftershocks, which occurred over a period of 22 days after the main shock, show simultaneous occurrences of strike-slip and normal faults. A comparison of the trends in seismicity between the neighboring areas shows that the Rampart seismic zone lies outside the area of underthrusting of the lithospheric plate in southcentral and central Alaska. The seismic zone outlined by the aftershock sequence appears to represent the formation of an intraplate fracture caused by regional northwest compression.


1982 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 729-744
Author(s):  
Charles A. Langston

abstract Fault plane solutions are derived from systematic trial-and-error (“grid”) testing of three-component body waveform data from a single station. Modeling P and SH waveform data from five shallow events recorded teleseismically demonstrates that radiation pattern information contained within the interference of the direct wave and surface reflections and the overall relative amplitude between P and SH waveforms is sufficient to discriminate between fault type (e.g., strike-slip versus dip-slip) and often agrees with well-constrained first-motion studies. Events studied are the 9 April 1968 Borrego Mountain, California; 20 June 1978 Thessaloniki, Greece; 13 August 1978 Santa Barbara, California; 20 May 1979 Alaska; and 6 August 1979 Coyote Lake, California, earthquakes. It is also shown using data from the 27 July 1980 Sharpsburg, Kentucky, earthquake that inclusion of pP/P and sP/P polarity and amplitude information to an otherwise unconstrained first-motion study can significantly improve the quality of the fault plane solution. Although there are many potential problems (source multiplicity, directivity, etc.) which can prohibit finding a good model with these techniques and inclusion of data from many stations is clearly desirable, the results of this study suggest that sparse, high-quality waveform data sets may be as or more useful for obtaining source mechanisms than standard first-motion studies. At a minimum, they should be performed together as a consistency check. This procedure would be most useful in the common situation where only a few receivers are available for a particular event.


1980 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Timothy Graham ◽  
Edward F. Chiburis

Abstract An analysis of eighteen New England fault plane solutions indicates that the area can be largely characterized by reverse faulting on north to northeasterly striking fault planes. This implies that New England is predominantly influenced by an east-west to southeast-northwest compressional stress field. This generalization may not apply in certain areas of southern New England.


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen M. Gómez-Arredondo ◽  
Juan C. Montalvo-Arrieta ◽  
Arturo Iglesias-Mendoza ◽  
Victor H. Espíndola-Castro

We relocated 52 events of 2.5 ≤ Mc ≤ 3.6 from a seismic sequence of over 250 events that occurred during July-December 2012 southwest of the Linares area, northeastern Mexico. To examine this swarm four seismic stations were installed in the region and operated during different time periods from September to December. Relocation of the swarm showed that the earthquake hypocentral depths were at 8 (±5) km, and the time residuals had values ≤ 0.38 s. The fault plane solutions were generated for individual earthquakes and through the use of the composite mechanism technique. The focal mechanism solutions show pure reverse faulting; the SW dipping NNW - SSE trending nodal plane is the inferred fault plane (strike ~150°, dip ~50° and rake ~67°), which reveals that maximum horizontal stress (SHmax > Shmin > Sv) predominates in the area.


1970 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1669-1699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Seeber ◽  
Muawia Barazangi ◽  
Ali Nowroozi

Abstract This paper demonstrates that high-gain, high-frequency portable seismographs operated for short intervals can provide unique data on the details of the current tectonic activity in a very small area. Five high-frequency, high-gain seismographs were operated at 25 sites along the coast of northern California during the summer of 1968. Eighty per cent of 160 microearthquakes located in the Cape Mendocino area occurred at depths between 15 and 35 km in a well-defined, horizontal seismic layer. These depths are significantly greater than those reported for other areas along the San Andreas fault system in California. Many of the earthquakes of the Cape Mendocino area occurred in sequences that have approximately the same magnitude versus length of faulting characteristics as other California earthquakes. Consistent first-motion directions are recorded from microearthquakes located within suitably chosen subdivisions of the active area. Composite fault plane solutions indicate that right-lateral movement prevails on strike-slip faults that radiate from Cape Mendocino northwest toward the Gorda basin. This is evidence that the Gorda basin is undergoing internal deformation. Inland, east of Cape Mendocino, a significant component of thrust faulting prevails for all the composite fault plane solutions. Thrusting is predominant in the fault plane solution of the June 26 1968 earthquake located along the Gorda escarpement. In general, the pattern of slip is consistent with a north-south crustal shortening. The Gorda escarpment, the Mattole River Valley, and the 1906 fault break northwest of Shelter Cove define a sharp bend that forms a possible connection between the Mendocino escarpment and the San Andreas fault. The distribution of hypocenters, relative travel times of P waves, and focal mechanisms strongly indicate that the above three features are surface expressions of an important structural boundary. The sharp bend in this boundary, which is concave toward the southwest, would tend to lock the dextral slip along the San Andreas fault and thus cause the regional north-south compression observed at Cape Mendocino. The above conclusions support the hypothesis that dextral strike-slip motion along the San Andreas fault is currently being taken up by slip along the Mendocino escarpment as well as by slip along northwest trending faults in the Gorda basin.


1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 865-908
Author(s):  
N. A. Haskell

abstract Displacement, particle velocity, and acceleration wave forms in the near field of a propagating fault have been computed by numerical integration of the Green's function integrals for an infinite medium. The displacement discontinuity (dislocation) on the fault plane is assumed to have the form of a unilaterally propagating finite ramp function in time. The calculated wave forms in the vicinity of the fault plane are quite similar to those observed at the strong motion station nearest the fault plane at the Parkfield earthquake. The comparison suggests that the propagating ramp time function is roughly representative of the main features of the dislocation motion on the fault plane, but that the actual motion has somewhat more high frequency complexity. Calculated amplitudes indicate that the average final dislocation on the fault at the Parkfield earthquake was more than an order of magnitude greater than the offsets observed on the visible surface trace. Computer generated wave form plots are presented for a variety of locations with respect to the fault plane and for two different assumptions on the relation between fault length and ramp function duration.


1976 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 1931-1952
Author(s):  
Donald J. Stierman ◽  
William L. Ellsworth

abstract The ML 6.0 Point Mugu, California earthquake of February 21, 1973 and its aftershocks occurred within the complex fault system that bounds the southern front of the Transverse Ranges province of southern California. P-wave fault plane solutions for 51 events include reverse, strike slip and normal faulting mechanisms, indicating complex deformation within the 10-km broad fault zone. Hypocenters of 141 aftershocks fail to delineate any single fault plane clearly associated with the main shock rupture. Most aftershocks cluster in a region 5 km in diameter centered 5 km from the main shock hypocenter and well beyond the extent of fault rupture estimated from analysis of body-wave radiation. Strain release within the imbricate fault zone was controlled by slip on preexisting planes of weakness under the influence of a NE-SW compressive stress.


1980 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 2291-2293
Author(s):  
H. M. Merghelani ◽  
S. K. Gallanthine

abstract During the course of a seismic refraction investigation in Saudi Arabia, an unexpected high level of microearthquake activity was detected near the border of the Red Sea and near the transition from oceanic to continental crust. The data is not adequate to determine fault plane solutions nor to relate the earthquakes to specific structures, but the existence of microearthquakes at this location suggest that there is a significant level of tectonic activity at a point 200 km from an axial trough of the Red Sea. These data, combined with other recent geological observations, may be an important clue to the understanding of continental rifting. The data suggest the need for a more thorough investigation of the earthquake hazard along the shores of the Red Sea.


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