Calculation of the local rupture speed of dynamically propagating earthquakes
The velocity at which a propagating earthquake advances on the fault surface is of pivotal importance in the contest of the source dynamics and in the modeling of the ground motions generation. In this paper the problem of the determination of the rupture speed (<em>v_<sub>r</sub></em>) is considered. The comparison of different numerical schemes to compute <em>v<sub>r</sub></em> from the rupture time (<em>t_<sub>r</sub></em>) shows that, in general, central finite differences schemes are more accurate than forward or backward schemes, regardless the order of accuracy. Overall, the most efficient and accurate algorithm is the five–points stencil method at the second–order of accuracy. It is also shown how the determination of <em>t_<sub>r</sub></em> can affect <em>v<sub>_r </sub></em>; numerical results indicate that if the fault slip velocity threshold (<em>v_<sub>l</sub></em>) used to define <em>t_<sub>r</sub></em> is too high (<em>v<sub>_l</sub></em> ≥ 0.1 m/s) the details of the rupture are missed, for instance the rupture tip bifurcation occurring for 2–D supershear rupture. On the other hand, for <em>v_<sub>l</sub></em> ≤ 0.01 m/s the results appear to be stable and independent on the choice of <em>v_<sub>l </sub></em>. Finally, it is demonstrated that in the special case of the linear slip–weakening friction law the definitions of <em>t_<sub>r</sub></em> from the threshold criterion on the fault slip velocity and from the achievement of the maximum yield stress are practically equivalent.