Multifault complex rupture and afterslip associated with the 2018 Mw 6.4 Hualien earthquake in northeastern Taiwan

2020 ◽  
Vol 224 (1) ◽  
pp. 416-434
Author(s):  
Dezheng Zhao ◽  
Chunyan Qu ◽  
Xinjian Shan ◽  
Roland Bürgmann ◽  
Wenyu Gong ◽  
...  

SUMMARY We investigate the coseismic and post-seismic deformation due to the 6 February 2018 Mw 6.4 Hualien earthquake to gain improved insights into the fault geometries and complex regional tectonics in this structural transition zone. We generate coseismic deformation fields using ascending and descending Sentinel-1A/B InSAR data and GPS data. Analysis of the aftershocks and InSAR measurements reveal complex multifault rupture during this event. We compare two fault model joint inversions of SAR, GPS and teleseismic body waves data to illuminate the involved seismogenic faults, coseismic slip distributions and rupture processes. Our preferred fault model suggests that both well-known active faults, the dominantly left-lateral Milun and Lingding faults, and previously unrecognized oblique-reverse west-dipping and north-dipping detachment faults, ruptured during this event. The maximum slip of ∼1.6 m occurred on the Milun fault at a depth of ∼2–5 km. We compute post-seismic displacement time series using the persistent scatterer method. The post-seismic range-change fields reveal large surface displacements mainly in the near-field of the Milun fault. Kinematic inversions constrained by cumulative InSAR displacements along two tracks indicate that the afterslip occurred on the Milun and Lingding faults and the west-dipping fault just to the east. The maximum cumulative afterslip of 0.4–0.6 m occurred along the Milun fault within ∼7 months of the main shock. The main shock-induced static Coulomb stress changes may have played an important role in driving the afterslip adjacent to coseismic high-slip zones on the Milun, Lingding and west-dipping faults.

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Vasileios Karakostas ◽  
Costas Papazachos ◽  
Eleftheria Papadimitriou ◽  
Michael Foumelis ◽  
Anastasia Kiratzi ◽  
...  

On 3 March 2021, the Mw6.3 Tyrnavos earthquake shook much of the Thessalia region, leading to extensive damage in many small towns and villages in the activated area. The first main shock was followed in the next day, on 4th of March 2021, by an “equivalent” main shock with Mw6.0 in the adjacent fault segment. These are the largest earthquakes to strike the northeastern part of Thessalia since the M6.3, 1941 Larissa earthquake. The main shocks triggered extensive liquefaction mainly along the banks of the Titarisios tributary where alluvial flood deposits most probably amplified the ground motions. Our seismic monitoring efforts, with the use of recordings of the regional seismological network along with a dense local network that was installed three days after the seismic excitation initiation, led to the improved understanding the geometry and kinematics of the activated faults. The aftershocks form a north–northwest–trending, east–northeast–dipping, ~40 km long distribution, encompassing the two main ruptures along with minor activated structures, consistent with the rupture length estimated from analysis of regional waveform data and InSAR modeling. The first rupture was expanded bilaterally, the second main shock nucleated at its northern tip, where from this second rupture propagated unilaterally to the north–northwest. The focal mechanisms of the two main shocks support an almost pure normal faulting, similar to the aftershocks fault plane solution determined in this study. The strong ground motion of the March 3 main shock was computed with a stochastic simulation of finite fault model. Coseismic displacements that were detected using a dense GPS / GNSS network of five permanent stations located the Thessaly region, have shown an NNE–SSW extension as expected from the nature and location of the causative fault. Coulomb stress changes due to the coseismic slip of the first main shock, revealed that the hypocentral region of the second main shock was brought closer to failure by more than 10 bars.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Yufen Niu ◽  
Shuai Wang ◽  
Wu Zhu ◽  
Qin Zhang ◽  
Zhong Lu ◽  
...  

Although the Zhaotong–Ludian fault is a seismically active zone located in the boundary between the Sichuan–Yunnan block and the South China block, it has not experienced a large earthquake greater than Mw 7 since at least 1700. On 3 August, 2014, an Mw 6.1 earthquake (the Ludian earthquake) ruptured the Zhaotong active belt in Ludian County, Yunnan province, China. This earthquake was the largest earthquake recorded in the region since 2000, and it provides us with a unique opportunity to study the active tectonics in the region. The analysis of the aftershocks showed that two conjugate faults could have been involved in the event. We first used Global Positioning System (GPS) data and C-band RADARSAT-2 imagery to map the coseismic surface deformation. We then inverted the derived coseismic deformation for the slip distribution based on the constructed conjugate fault model. Finally, the coulomb failure stress due to the Ludian earthquake was estimated to investigate the potential seismic hazards in this region. Our investigations showed that the Ludian earthquake was mainly a bilateral rupture event. The major slip of the main shock was located at depths of 0–5 km, which is close but does not superpose with the aftershocks that are mostly located at depths of 5–20 km. Interestingly, the seismic moment released by the aftershocks (6.9 × 1018 N∙m) was greater than that of the main shock (2.6 × 1018 N∙m). This evidence suggests that the accumulated elastic strain at depths of 0–20 km could have been fully released by the Ludian earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks. Furthermore, our analysis of the coulomb failure stress changes due to the main shock showed that the aftershocks could be the result of dynamic triggering rather than static triggering.


2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 2008
Author(s):  
P. M. Paradisopoulou ◽  
E. E. Papadimitriou ◽  
V. G. Karakostas ◽  
A. Kilias

The study of static Coulomb Stress changes requires initially the collection of information on the major active faults in a study area concerning their geometry and kinematic properties and then a series of complex calculation for stress changes that are associated with both coseismic displacements of the stronger events and the tectonic loading on these major faults. The Coulomb Stress Application has been developed as a tool to provide a user-friendly way of entering the necessary data and an efficient way to perform the complex calculations procedure. More specifically the aim of the application is a) the collection of data (catalogues of earthquakes, fault parameters) in a relational database, b) the calculation of earthquake source parameters such as the length and the width of the causative fault, and the coseismic slip by using available scaling laws, and finally, c) the execution of all the necessary programs and scripts (e.g. dis3dop.exe, GMT package) to get a map of static stress changes for an area. Coulomb Stress application provides a way to store these data for a study area and it is a method to perform a series of calculations by plotting a series of maps and examine the results for a number of cases.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Yu ◽  
Xuejun Qiao ◽  
Wei Xiong ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Zhaosheng Nie ◽  
...  

Abstract On January 19, 2020, an Mw 6.0 earthquake occurred in Jiashi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The epicenter was located at the basin-mountain boundary between the southern Tian Shan and the Tarim Basin. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is used to obtain the coseismic deformation field from both ascending and descending Sentinel-1A satellite images of the European Space Agency. The results showed that the coseismic deformation is distributed between the Kalping fault and the Ozgertaou fault. The earthquake produced significant deformation over an area of approximately 40 km by 30 km. The maximum and minimal displacements along the line of sight (LOS) are 5.3 cm and -4.2 cm for the ascending interferogram and are 7.2 cm and -3.0 cm for the descending interferogram, respectively. The fault geometry from the Multi peak Particle Swarm Optimization computation indicates that the seismogenic fault is a shallow low-dipping planar fault that is 4.58 km depth underground. The finite slip model inverted by the Steepest Descent Method implies that the rupture is dominated by a thrust fault. The slips are concentrated in a depth of 5 ~ 7 km with a maximum slip of 0.29 m. The estimated total seismic moment is 1.688×1018 Nm, corresponding to a magnitude of Mw 6.1. The seismogenic fault is the Kalping fault which has a listric structure. The coseismic deformation only occurred on the décollement layer and did not involve the ramp segment. The coseismic Coulomb stress changes have enhanced the stress on the deep margin of the Jiashi earthquake rupture area, indicating that there is still the possibility of strong earthquakes in this region in the future.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Yu ◽  
Xuejun Qiao ◽  
Wei Xiong ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Zhaosheng Nie ◽  
...  

Abstract On January 19, 2020, an Mw 6.0 earthquake occurred in Jiashi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The epicenter was located at the basin-mountain boundary between the southern Tian Shan and the Tarim Basin. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is used to obtain the coseismic deformation field from both ascending and descending Sentinel-1A satellite images of the European Space Agency. The results showed that the coseismic deformation is distributed between the Kalping fault and the Ozgertaou fault. The earthquake produced significant deformation over an area of approximately 40 km by 30 km. The maximum and minimal displacements along the line of sight (LOS) are 5.3 cm and -4.2 cm for the ascending interferogram and are 7.2 cm and -3.0 cm for the descending interferogram, respectively. The fault geometry from the Multi peak Particle Swarm Optimization computation indicates that the seismogenic fault is a shallow low-dipping planar fault that is 4.58 km depth underground. The finite slip model inverted by the Steepest Descent Method implies that the rupture is dominated by a thrust fault. The slips are concentrated in a depth of 5 ~ 7 km with a maximum slip of 0.29 m. The estimated total seismic moment is 1.688×1018 Nm, corresponding to a magnitude of Mw 6.1. The seismogenic fault is the Kalping fault which has a listric structure. The coseismic deformation only occurred on the décollement layer and did not involve the ramp segment. The coseismic Coulomb stress changes have enhanced the stress on the deep margin of the Jiashi earthquake rupture area, indicating that there is still the possibility of strong earthquakes in this region in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 1660-1679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeyu Jin ◽  
Yuri Fialko

ABSTRACT The July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence involved two large events—the M 6.4 foreshock and the M 7.1 mainshock that ruptured a system of intersecting strike-slip faults. We present analysis of space geodetic observations including Synthetic Aperture Radar and Global Navigation Satellite System data, geological field mapping, and seismicity to constrain the subsurface rupture geometry and slip distribution. The data render a complex pattern of faulting with a number of subparallel as well as cross-cutting fault strands that exhibit variations in both strike and dip angles, including a “flower structure” formed by shallow splay faults. Slip inversions are performed using both homogeneous and layered elastic half-space models informed by the local seismic tomography data. The inferred slip distribution suggests a moderate amount of the shallow coseismic slip deficit. The peak moment release occurred in the depth interval of 3–4 km, consistent with results from previous studies of major strike-slip earthquakes, and the depth distribution of seismicity in California. We use the derived slip models to investigate stress transfer and possible triggering relationships between the M 7.1 mainshock and the M 6.4 foreshock, as well as other moderate events that occurred in the vicinity of the M 7.1 hypocenter. Triggering is discouraged for the average strike of the M 7.1 rupture (320°) but encouraged for the initial orientation of the mainshock rupture suggested by the first-motion data (340°). This lends support to a scenario according to which the earthquake rupture nucleated on a small fault that was more optimally oriented with respect to the regional stress and subsequently propagated along the less-favorably oriented pre-existing faults, possibly facilitated by dynamic weakening. The nucleation site of the mainshock experienced positive dynamic Coulomb stress changes that are much larger than the static stress changes, yet the former failed to initiate rupture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Yu ◽  
Xuejun Qiao ◽  
Wei Xiong ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Zhaosheng Nie ◽  
...  

Abstract On January 19, 2020, an Mw 6.0 earthquake occurred in Jiashi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The epicenter was located at the basin-mountain boundary between the southern Tian Shan and the Tarim Basin. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is used to obtain the coseismic deformation field from both ascending and descending Sentinel-1A satellite images of the European Space Agency. The results showed that the coseismic deformation is distributed between the Kalping fault and the Ozgertaou fault. The earthquake produced significant deformation over an area of approximately 40 km by 30 km. The maximum and minimal displacements along the line of sight (LOS) are 5.3 cm and − 4.2 cm for the ascending interferogram and are 7.2 cm and − 3.0 cm for the descending interferogram, respectively. The fault geometry from the Multi peak Particle Swarm Optimization computation indicates that the seismogenic fault is a shallow low-dipping planar fault that is 4.58 km depth underground. The finite slip model inverted by the Steepest Descent Method implies that the rupture is dominated by a thrust fault. The slips are concentrated in a depth of 5–7 km with a maximum slip of 0.29 m. The estimated total seismic moment is 1.688 × 1018 Nm, corresponding to a magnitude of Mw 6.1. The seismogenic fault is the Kalping fault which has a listric structure. The coseismic deformation only occurred on the décollement layer and did not involve the ramp segment. The coseismic Coulomb stress changes have enhanced the stress on the deep margin of the Jiashi earthquake rupture area, indicating that there is still the possibility of strong earthquakes in this region in the future.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Yu ◽  
Xuejun Qiao ◽  
Wei Xiong ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Zhaosheng Nie ◽  
...  

Abstract On January 19, 2020, an Mw 6.0 earthquake occurred in Jiashi, Western China. The epicenter was located at the basin-mountain boundary between the southern Tian Shan and the Tarim Basin. Many strong earthquakes occurred in this region, such as the 1997 Jiashi strong earthquake swarm. In this study, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) was used to obtain the coseismic deformation field from the ascending and descending Sentinel-1A satellite data of the European Space Agency. The results showed that the coseismic deformation was distributed along the Kalpingtag fault and the Ozgertaou fault. The earthquake produced significant deformation over an area of approximately 40 km by 30 km. The long axis of the deformation was near the east-west direction. The maximum and minimal displacements along the line of sight (LOS) were 5.3 cm, 7.2 cm and -4.2 cm, -3 cm for the ascending and descending interferograms, respectively. The slip model inverted by the steepest descent method demonstrated that the rupture process of this earthquake is dominated by a thrust fault. The slips were concentrated in a depth of 3.5 ~ 6.5 km. The maximum slip was 0.29 m. The estimated total seismic moment was 1.728×1018 Nm, corresponding to a magnitude of Mw 6.09. The inversion revealed that the coseismic rupture was located at the transition zone between the shallow high-dip fault and the deep detachment fault. The geometry of the coseismic rupture is direct evidence of the deep attitude of the Kalping fault, indicating the possibility of independent earthquakes at the shallow ramp-to-flat transition zone of an orogenic belt. The coseismic Coulomb stress changes have enhanced the stress on the deep margin of the Jiashi earthquake rupture area, indicating that there is still the possibility of another strong earthquake in this region in the future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 1211
Author(s):  
P. Paradisopoulou ◽  
E. Papadimitriou ◽  
J. Mirek ◽  
V. Karakostas

Based on the fact that stress changes caused by the coseismic slip of strong events can be incorporated into quantitative earthquake probability estimates, the goal of this study is to estimate the probability of the next strong earthquake (M≥6.5) on a known fault segment in a future time interval (30 years). The probability depends on the calculation of ΔCFF and the estimate of the occurrence rate of a characteristic earthquake, conditioned to the elapsed time since the previous event. The Coulomb stress changes caused by previous earthquakes are computed and their influence are considered by the introduction of a permanent shift on the time elapsed since theprevious earthquake or by a modification of the expected mean recurrence time. The occurrence rate is calculated, taking into account both permanent and temporary perturbations. The estimated probability values correspond to the probabilities along each fault segment with discretization of 1km, illustrating the probability distribution across the specific fault. In order to check whether the estimated probability vary with depth, all the estimations were performed for each fault at depths of 8, 10, 12 and 15 km. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-139
Author(s):  
Xin Lin ◽  
Jinlai Hao ◽  
Dun Wang ◽  
Risheng Chu ◽  
Xiangfang Zeng ◽  
...  

Abstract On 24 January 2020 (UTC), a destructive Mw 6.7 earthquake struck the east Anatolian fault of eastern Turkey after a series of foreshocks, causing many casualties and significant property damage. In this study, the rupture process of this earthquake is investigated with teleseismic broadband body-wave and surface-wave records. Results indicate that this earthquake is a left-lateral strike-slip event, and the rupture extends mainly to south. The main slip patch spreads ∼30  km along strike in the shallow above 14 km with a peak slip of ∼1.2  m, and the total seismic moment is 1.69×1019  N·m. The east–west component of horizontal surface displacement predicted with our slip model ranges from ∼0.4 to −0.3  m. The predicted displacements are consistent with the observed ones obtained from satellite images. We relocate 459 foreshocks and early aftershocks to explore the relationship between foreshock and aftershock sequences and coseismic slip. It is noted that there is an anticorrelation relationship between the distributions of early aftershocks and the coseismic slip. The strain energy in the large slip patch may have been sufficiently released by the mainshock; therefore, fewer early aftershocks occurred in that patch. Although we note a similar pattern between the relocated foreshock and coseismic slip, and a migration of foreshock, our dataset may not well resolve the correlation and migration due to the incomplete relocation foreshock catalog. Based on the slip model, we calculate the coulomb stress changes on the surrounding faults caused by the mainshock. The results reveal that the mainshock promoted stress accumulation on the northern and southern ends of the Elazig–Matalya segment and may reactivate the locked fault segment, leading to a high seismic risk in these regions. Although this earthquake does not significantly increase the coulomb stress change, the seismic risk of the Matalya–Kahraman Maras–Antakya segment should draw attention.


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