The Effect of Elastic Layering on Inversions of GPS Data for Coseismic Slip and Resulting Stress Changes: Strike-Slip Earthquakes

2005 ◽  
Vol 95 (5) ◽  
pp. 1637-1653 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. H. Hearn
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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Cesca ◽  
Carla Valenzuela Malebrán ◽  
José Ángel López-Comino ◽  
Timothy Davis ◽  
Carlos Tassara ◽  
...  

<p> A complex seismic sequence took place in 2014 at the Juan Fernández microplate, a small microplate located between Pacific, Nazca and Antarctica plates. Despite the remoteness of the study region and the lack of local data, we were able to resolve earthquake source parameters and to reconstruct the complex seismic sequence, by using modern waveform-based seismological techniques. The sequence started with an exceptional Mw 7.1-6.7 thrust – strike slip earthquake doublet, the first subevent being the largest earthquake ever recorded in the region and one of the few rare thrust earthquakes in a region otherwise characterized by normal faulting and strike slip earthquakes. The joint analysis of seismicity and focal mechanisms suggest the activation of E-W and NE-SW faults or of an internal curved pseudofault, which is formed in response to the microplate rotation, with alternation of thrust and strike-slip earthquakes. Seismicity migrated Northward in its final phase, towards the microplate edge, where a second doublet with uneven focal mechanisms occurred. The sequence rupture kinematics is well explained by Coulomb stress changes imparted by the first subevent. Our analysis show that compressional stresses, which have been mapped at the northern boundary of the microplate, but never accompanied by large thrust earthquakes, can be accommodated by the rare occurrence of large, impulsive, shallow thrust earthquakes, with a considerable tsunamigenic potential.</p>


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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (20) ◽  
pp. 10,710-10,719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh N. Shrivastava ◽  
Gabriel González ◽  
Marcos Moreno ◽  
Mohamed Chlieh ◽  
Pablo Salazar ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 1583
Author(s):  
V. Saltogianni ◽  
M. Gianniou ◽  
T. Taymaz ◽  
S. Yolsal-Çevikbilen ◽  
S. Stiros

A strong earthquake (Mw 6.9) on 24 May 2014 ruptured the North Aegean Trough (NAT) in Greece, west of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). In order to provide unbiased constrains of the rupture process and fault geometry of the earthquake, seismological and geodetic data were analyzed independently. First, based on teleseismic long-period P- and SH- waveforms a point-source solution yielded dominantly right-lateral strike-slip faulting mechanism. Furthermore, finite fault inversion of broad-band data revealed the slip history of the earthquake. Second, GPS slip vectors derived from 11 permanent GPS stations uniformly distributed around the meizoseismal area of the earthquake indicated significant horizontal coseismic slip. Inversion of GPS-derived displacements on the basis of Okada model and using the new TOPological INVersion (TOPINV) algorithm permitted to model a vertical strike slip fault, consistent with that derived from seismological data. Obtained results are consistent with the NAT structure and constrain well the fault geometry and the dynamics of the 2014 earthquake. The latter seems to fill a gap in seismicity along the NAT in the last 50 years, but seems not to have a direct relationship with the sequence of recent faulting farther east, along the NAFZ.


Author(s):  
R. Alac Barut ◽  
J. Trinder ◽  
C. Rizos

On August 17<sup>th</sup> 1999, a M<sub>w</sub> 7.4 earthquake struck the city of Izmit in the north-west of Turkey. This event was one of the most devastating earthquakes of the twentieth century. The epicentre of the Izmit earthquake was on the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) which is one of the most active right-lateral strike-slip faults on earth. However, this earthquake offers an opportunity to study how strain is accommodated in an inter-segment region of a large strike slip fault. In order to determine the Izmit earthquake post-seismic effects, the authors modelled Coulomb stress changes of the aftershocks, as well as using the deformation measurement techniques of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The authors have shown that InSAR and GNSS observations over a time period of three months after the earthquake combined with Coulomb Stress Change Modelling can explain the fault zone expansion, as well as the deformation of the northern region of the NAF. It was also found that there is a strong agreement between the InSAR and GNSS results for the post-seismic phases of investigation, with differences less than 2mm, and the standard deviation of the differences is less than 1mm.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 3721
Author(s):  
Zhongqiu He ◽  
Ting Chen ◽  
Mingce Wang ◽  
Yanchong Li

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, including two large (Mw ≥ 6.0) foreshocks and an Mw 7.0 mainshock, occurred in the Hinagu and Futagawa fault zones in the middle of Kyushu island, Japan. Here, we obtain the complex coseismic deformation field associated with this earthquake from Advanced Land Observation Satellite-2 (ALOS-2) and Sentinel-1A Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data. These InSAR data, in combination with available Global Positioning System (GPS) data, are then used to determine an optimal four-segment fault geometry with the jRi method, which considers both data misfit and the perturbation error from data noise. Our preferred slip distribution model indicates that the rupture is dominated by right-lateral strike-slip, with a significant normal slip component. The largest asperity is located on the northern segment of the Futagawa fault, with a maximum slip of 5.6 m at a 5–6 km depth. The estimated shallow slips along the Futagawa fault and northern Hinagu fault are consistent with the displacements of surface ruptures from the field investigation, suggesting a shallow slip deficit. The total geodetic moment release is estimated to be 4.89 × 1019 Nm (Mw 7.09), which is slightly larger than seismological estimates. The calculated static Coulomb stress changes induced by the preferred slip distribution model cannot completely explain the spatial distribution of aftershocks. Sensitivity analysis of Coulomb stress change implies that aftershocks in the stress shadow area may be driven by aseismic creep or triggered by dynamic stress transfer, requiring further investigation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (52) ◽  
pp. 26367-26375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuhua Shi ◽  
Paul Tapponnier ◽  
Teng Wang ◽  
Shengji Wei ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
...  

The 2016, moment magnitude (Mw) 7.8, Kaikoura earthquake generated the most complex surface ruptures ever observed. Although likely linked with kinematic changes in central New Zealand, the driving mechanisms of such complexity remain unclear. Here, we propose an interpretation accounting for the most puzzling aspects of the 2016 rupture. We examine the partitioning of plate motion and coseismic slip during the 2016 event in and around Kaikoura and the large-scale fault kinematics, volcanism, seismicity, and slab geometry in the broader Tonga–Kermadec region. We find that the plate motion partitioning near Kaikoura is comparable to the coseismic partitioning between strike-slip motion on the Kekerengu fault and subperpendicular thrusting along the offshore West–Hikurangi megathrust. Together with measured slip rates and paleoseismological results along the Hope, Kekerengu, and Wairarapa faults, this observation suggests that the West–Hikurangi thrust and Kekerengu faults bound the southernmost tip of the Tonga–Kermadec sliver plate. The narrow region, around Kaikoura, where the 3 fastest-slipping faults of New Zealand meet, thus hosts a fault–fault–trench (FFT) triple junction, which accounts for the particularly convoluted 2016 coseismic deformation. That triple junction appears to have migrated southward since the birth of the sliver plate (around 5 to 7 million years ago). This likely drove southward stepping of strike-slip shear within the Marlborough fault system and propagation of volcanism in the North Island. Hence, on a multimillennial time scale, the apparently distributed faulting across southern New Zealand may reflect classic plate-tectonic triple-junction migration rather than diffuse deformation of the continental lithosphere.


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