scholarly journals Deep submarine landslide contribution to the 2010 Haiti earthquake tsunami

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 2055-2065
Author(s):  
Adrien Poupardin ◽  
Eric Calais ◽  
Philippe Heinrich ◽  
Hélène Hébert ◽  
Mathieu Rodriguez ◽  
...  

Abstract. The devastating Mw 7.1 Haiti earthquake in 2010 was accompanied by local tsunamis that caused fatalities and damage to coastal infrastructure. Some were triggered by slope failures of river deltas in the close vicinity of the epicenter, while others, 30 to 50 km to the north across the Bay of Gonâve, are well explained by the reverse component of coseismic ground motion that accompanied this mostly strike-slip event. However, observations of run-up heights up to 2 m along the southern coast of the island at distances up to 100 km from the epicenter, as well as tide gauge and DART buoy records at distances up to 600 km from the epicenter, have not yet received an explanation. Here we demonstrate that these observations require a secondary source, most likely a submarine landslide. We identify a landslide scar 30 km from the epicenter off the southern coast of Haiti at a depth of 3500 m, where ground acceleration would have been sufficient to trigger slope failure in soft sediments. This candidate source, 2 km3 in volume, matches observations remarkably well assuming that the sediment collapse obeys a viscous flow with an initial apparent viscosity of 2×105 Pa s. Although that particular source cannot be proven to have been activated in 2010, our results add to a line of evidence that earthquake-triggered submarine landslides can cause significant tsunamis in areas of strike-slip tectonic regime.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrien Poupardin ◽  
Eric Calais ◽  
Philippe Heinrich ◽  
Hélène Hébert ◽  
Mathieu Rodriguez ◽  
...  

Abstract. The devastating Mw 7, 2010, Haiti earthquake was accompanied by local tsunamis that caused fatalities and damage to coastal infrastructure. Some were triggered by slope failures of river deltas in close vicinity of the epicenter, while others, 30 to 50 km to the north across the Bay of Gonâve, are well explained by the reverse component of coseismic ground motion that accompanied this mostly strike-slip event. However, observations of run-up heights up to 2 m along the southern coast of the island at distances up to 100 km from the epicenter, as well as tide gauge and DART buoy records at distances up to 600 km from the epicenter have not yet received an explanation. Here we demonstrate that these observations require a secondary source, most likely a submarine landslide. We identify a landslide scar 30 km from the epicenter off the southern coast of Haiti at a depth of 3500 m, where ground acceleration would have been sufficient to trigger slope failure in soft sediments. This candidate source, 2 km3 in volume, matches observation remarkably well assuming that the sediment collapse obeys a viscous flow with an initial apparent viscosity of 2 × 105 Pa s. Although that particular source cannot be proven to have been activated in 2010, our results add to a line of evidence that earthquake-triggered submarine landslides can cause significant tsunamis in areas of strike-slip tectonic regime.


2018 ◽  
Vol 477 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Gary Greene ◽  
J. Vaughn Barrie ◽  
Daniel S. Brothers ◽  
James E. Conrad ◽  
Kim Conway ◽  
...  

AbstractMultibeam echosounder (MBES) images, 3.5 kHz seismic-reflection profiles and piston cores obtained along the southern Queen Charlotte Fault Zone are used to map and date mass-wasting events at this transform margin – a seismically active boundary that separates the Pacific Plate from the North American Plate. Whereas the upper continental slope adjacent to and east (upslope) of the fault zone offshore of the Haida Gwaii is heavily gullied, few large-sized submarine landslides in this area are observed in the MBES images. However, smaller submarine seafloor slides exist locally in areas where fluid flow appears to be occurring and large seafloor slides have recently been detected at the base of the steep continental slope just above its contact with the abyssal plain on the Queen Charlotte Terrace. In addition, along the subtle slope re-entrant area offshore of the Dixon Entrance shelf bathymetric data suggest that extensive mass wasting has occurred in the vicinity of an active mud volcano venting gas. We surmise that the relative lack of submarine slides along the upper slope in close proximity to the Queen Charlotte Fault Zone may be the result of seismic strengthening (compaction and cohesion) of a sediment-starved shelf and slope through multiple seismic events.


2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Δ. ΣΑΚΕΛΛΑΡΙΟΥ ◽  
Γ. ΡΟΥΣΑΚΗΣ ◽  
Χ. ΚΡΑΝΗΣ ◽  
Ε. ΚΑΜΠΕΡΗ ◽  
Π. ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ ◽  
...  

Lake Vegoritis is a 20km long lake located within the NE-SW oriented, Late Pliocene - Quaternary Vegoritis neotectonic depression. More than 200km of high resolution Boomer profiles provided valuable data on the recent evolution of the area. Two main seismic units separated from each other by an erosional surface (Reflector "W") were recognized in the upper 50-60m below the lakebed. The upper seismic unit is an onlapping basin fill characterized by parallel, sub-horizontal internal reflectors. The thickness of the unit reaches 15-20m in the deeper part of the lake. The lower seismic unit is a parallel-stratified unit with continuous internal reflections, slightly folded or inclined. We interpret Reflector "W" as the peri-lake land-surface during the last lake-level low stand, i.e. during the last glacial maximum. The lake has amassed on average 15-20m of sediments since the end of Wurm Glacial Period with a mean sedimentation rate of about lm/kyr. 210Pb geochronology applied on a sediment core recovered in front of the main water stream outflow yielded maximum sedimentation rate of 0.4cm/y for the time before 1956 and 0.6cm/y since 1956. The later is attributed to the dramatic man-induced lowering of the lake level by more than 30m between 1956-1990. Both the lakebed and the sediments below dip gently westwards, towards the SW-NE trending Vegoritis marginal fault. Slope failure phenomena occur in various stratigraphie levels along the fault-controlled western steep slope. The newly discovered E-W trending Ag Panteleimon fault divides Vegoritis fault into a northern active segment and a southern less effective one. On the seismic profiles the southern fault block subsides forming a 2m high morphological step on the lakebed, while the lake sediments are slightly folded. Further to the west Ag. Panteleimon fault separates Jurassic marbles to the north from Pleistocene conglomerates to the south and divides the NE-SW trending Petron-lake fault into two segments. We interpret Ag. Panteleimon fault as a dextral strike slip fault with minor normal component. In conclusion, strike slip movements have significantly influenced the formation and evolution of the Late Pliocene-Quaternary Vegoritis asymmetric graben and possibly of other basins in NW Greece. Despite the "suspicious" very low seismicity of the area, both normal and strike slip faults remain presently active with high seismic potential


Author(s):  
Alexandre Janin ◽  
Mathieu Rodriguez ◽  
Dimitris Sakellariou ◽  
Vasilis Lykousis ◽  
Christian Gorini

Abstract. The North Anatolian Fault in the northern Aegean Sea triggers frequent earthquakes of magnitude up to Mw ∼ 7. This seismicity can be a source of modest tsunamis for the surrounding coastlines with less than 50 cm height according to numerical modelling and analysis of tsunami deposits. However, other tsunami sources may be involved, like submarine landslides. We assess the severity of this potential hazard by performing numerical simulations of tsunami generation and propagation from a Holocene landslide (1.85 km3 in volume) identified off Thasos island. We use a model coupling the simulation of the submarine landslide, assimilated to a granular flow, to the propagation of the tsunami wave. The results of these simulations show that a tsunami wave of water height between 1.10 m and 1.65 m reaches the coastline at Alexandroupolis (58.000 inhabitants) one hour after the triggering of the landslide. In the same way, tsunamis waves of water height between 0.80 m and 2.00 m reach the coastline of the Athos peninsula 9 min after the triggering of the landslide. Landslide tsunamis should not be neglected as a potential source of tsunami in the area. Despite numerous earthquakes of Mw > 7 and strong detrital input (on the order of 30 cm ka−1), only a few Holocene landslides have been recognized so far, asking the question of the relationships between seismicity and landslide frequency in the area.


2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P Neuffer ◽  
Richard A Schultz ◽  
Robert J Watters

Pyramid Mountain is a subglacial volcano in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia. Landslides deform the north and east flanks of the volcano. Field strength testing and rock mass classification designate the hyaloclastite breccia in which the landslides originated as a weak, massive rock mass: uniaxial compressive strengths (UCS) range from 24 to 35 MPa, and geologic strength index (GSI) and rock mass rating (RMR) values are 60–70. The shear strength of fracture surfaces in the hyaloclastite breccia, as measured by laboratory direct shear tests, can be characterized by a friction angle ϕ of 18° and cohesion c of 0.11–0.66 MPa. Limit-equilibrium slope stability analyses show that the landslides were probably triggered by the rapid drawdown of a surrounding englacial lake with no seismic ground acceleration required. Slope measurements and slope stability modeling indicate that Pyramid Mountain was asymmetric prior to failure: the north and east flanks had slope angles of 35°–40°, and the south and west flanks had slope angles of 21°–33°. Slope asymmetry may result from closer ice confinement on up-gradient (north and east) flanks due to higher ice flux in this direction relative to down-gradient (south and west) flanks. At the time of failure, the volcanic edifice was at least partially lithified, with cohesive strengths of 0.19–0.52 MPa. Failures of lithified subglacial and subaqueous volcanic edifices may be triggered by rapid drawdown of surrounding water without seismic loading.


2019 ◽  
Vol 500 (1) ◽  
pp. 477-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Watson ◽  
J. J. Mountjoy ◽  
G. J. Crutchley

AbstractSubmarine landslides occur on continental margins globally and can have devastating consequences for marine habitats, offshore infrastructure and coastal communities due to potential tsunamigenesis. Therefore, understanding landslide magnitude and distribution is central to marine and coastal hazard planning.We present the first submarine landslide database for the eastern margin of New Zealand comprising >2200 landslides occurring in water depths from c. 300–4000 m. Landslides are more prevalent and, on average, larger on the active margin compared with the passive margin. We attribute higher concentrations of landslides on the active margin to tectonic processes including uplift and oversteepening, faulting and seamount subduction. Submarine landslide scars are concentrated around canyon systems and close to canyon thalwegs. This suggests that not only does mass wasting play a major role in canyon evolution, but also that canyon-forming processes may provide preconditioning factors for slope failure.Results of this study offer unique insights into the spatial distribution, magnitude and morphology of submarine landslides across different geological settings, providing a better understanding of the causative factors for mass wasting in New Zealand and around the world.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Semih Ergintav ◽  
Alpay Ödemir ◽  
Seda Özarpacı ◽  
Hilmi Erkoç ◽  
Efe T. Ayruk ◽  
...  

<p>Based on >20 years of GPS observations and seismological works, direct constraints on the strain accumulation along the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) show different characteristics from Princess Islands to Ganos Fault. Ganos and Princess Island segments identified as locked based on GPS and seismological observations while the part of the Central Marmara segment show partially creeping behaviour. Moreover, around the Kumburgaz Basin, GPS data could be explained by creep models in contrast to fully locked seismic models. Clearly, there are many puzzling questions on the nature of strain accumulation on the MMF, under the constrain of various data sets. In order to contribute to a better understanding of this fault the observation capacity of geodesic network has been increased along the northern coast of the Marmara Sea and supported by seismological stations as well as Marine Geodesy.</p><p>In September, 2019, an intense earthquake activity started between Central Marmara and Kumburgaz Basin. The mainshock occurred on 26 September 2019 (Mw5.8) as a largest earthquake, since 1963 Mw6.3 Cinarcik earthquake, in the Marmara Sea. A foreshock activity started 4 days before the mainshock and the largest one (Mw4.7) observed on September 24, close to the mainshock. The mechanisms of the mainshock and the large aftershocks as well as foreshocks are dominantly strike-slip with a significant reverse component. The aftershocks are located on the north of the MMF trace.</p><p>Here we investigate the geodetic data related to this event, with the aim to shed some light on the complexly segmented MMF. We observed co-seismic offsets at the nearest 6 GPS stations (~12-20 km far to the epicenter) along the northern coastline of the Sea of Marmara.  The estimated offsets are not big and change between 1-3 mm on horizontal and 1-10 mm on vertical components.  All of the stations are located on the northern part of the hypocenter and exhibit predominant NS-direction movement, which is inconsistent with a primarily E-W right lateral transform system. Instead, the co-seismic pattern can be explained with a complex earthquake mechanism which has a dominant reverse component while the strike-slip component is relatively insignificant, based on Okada-type elastic models and geodetic moment magnitude obtained as ~6.2. The total cumulative moment using geodesy is much higher than the total seismic cumulative moment of earthquake activity (~M5.9), and the thrust component is also more dominant in comparison the focal mechanisms from regional data. Obviously, geodetic co-seismic offsets estimated from daily-based data and they include pre-and post-earthquake deformations. In addition, the tide-gauge data (station distance is 25 km far to epicenter) was analyzed and it shows the strong variations after Mw 4.7 and they faded out after Mw5.8. This sea level change, which temporally correlates with the seismic activity,  gives important evidence about the possibilities of pre-earthquake activity. Using GPS time series, we intend to explore the pre-earthquake anomalies and, to reduce the discrepancy between seismological and geodetic models. (This study is supported by TUBITAK 1001 Project no: 117Y278).</p>


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haekal Azief Haridhi ◽  
Bor-Shouh Huang ◽  
Kuo-Liang Wen ◽  
Arif Mirza ◽  
Syamsul Rizal ◽  
...  

Abstract. Near the northern border of Sumatra, the right-lateral strike-slip Sumatran Fault Zone splits into two branches and extends into the offshore, as revealed by seismic sounding surveys. However, due to its strike-slip faulting characteristics, the Sumatran Fault Zone’s activity is rarely believed to cause tsunami hazards in this region. According to two reprocessed reflection seismic profiles, the extended Sumatran Fault Zone is strongly associated with chaotic facies, indicating that large submarine landslides have been triggered. Coastal steep slopes and new subsurface characteristics of submarine landslide deposits were mapped using recently acquired high-resolution shallow bathymetry data. Slope stability analysis revealed some targets with steep morphology to be close to failure. In an extreme case, an earthquake of Mw 7 or more occurred, and the strong ground shaking triggered a submarine landslide off the northern shore of Sumatra. Based on a simulation of tsunami wave propagation in shallow water, the results of this study indicate a potential tsunami hazard from a submarine landslide triggered by the strike-slip fault system. The landslide tsunami hazard assessment and early warning systems in this study area can be improved on the basis of this proposed scenario.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Janin ◽  
Mathieu Rodriguez ◽  
Dimitris Sakellariou ◽  
Vasilis Lykousis ◽  
Christian Gorini

Abstract. The North Anatolian Fault in the northern Aegean Sea triggers frequent earthquakes of magnitudes up to Mw∼7. This seismicity can be a source of modest tsunamis for the surrounding coastlines with less than 50 cm height according to numerical modelling and analysis of tsunami deposits. However, other tsunami sources may be involved, like submarine landslides. We assess the severity of this potential hazard by performing numerical simulations of tsunami generation and propagation from a Holocene landslide (1.85 km3 in volume) identified off Thasos. We use a model coupling the simulation of the submarine landslide, assimilated to a granular flow, to the propagation of the tsunami wave. The results of these simulations show that a tsunami wave of water height between 1.10 and 1.65 m reaches the coastline at Alexandroupoli (58 000 inhabitants) 1 h after the triggering of the landslide. In the same way, tsunami waves of water height between 0.80 and 2.00 m reach the coastline of the Athos peninsula 9 min after the triggering of the landslide. Despite numerous earthquakes of Mw>7 and strong detrital input (on the order of 30 cm ka−1), only a few Holocene landslides have been recognized so far, asking for tsunami recurrence in this area.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiguo Xu ◽  
Lining Sun ◽  
Mohd Nashriq Abd Rahman ◽  
Shanshan Liang ◽  
Jianyu Shi ◽  
...  

Abstract A huge left-lateral strike-slip Mw7.7 earthquake struck the Caribbean Sea on January 28, 2020. Thus, a small tsunami was generated as as result of the earthquake. The information and observational data gathered for the earthquake and tsunami, as well as integrating the regional tectonic setting, were used to describe the seismogenic source’s properties. The COMCOT model was used for tsunami simulation, with Okada’s dislocation model from finite fault solutions for MW7.7 Caribbean Sea earthquake published by the USGS. The simulation results were compare to tide gauge records to validate whether the seafloor vertical displacements generated by strike-slip fault caused a small tsunami. We conduct spectral analysis of tsunami to better understand the characteristics of tsunami records. Tsunami simulation results show that the coseismic vertical displacement caused by a strike-slip MW7.7 earthquake can contribute to the small tsunami, and the anomalously large high-frequency tsunami waves recorded by the George tide gauge in 11 minutes after the earthquake were unrelated to the earthquake-generated tsunami. According to spectrum analysis. The predominant period of the noticeable high frequency tsunami wave recorded by George tide gauge is only 2 minutes. This indicates that the source of small tsunami was close to the George station and travelled a distance of ~ 150 km, indicating a submarine landslide caused by the strike-slip earthquake. The comprehensive analysis shows that the small-scale tsunami was not caused solely by coseismic seafloor deformation from this strike-slip event, but that earthquake-triggered submarine landslide was the primary cause. Hence, the combined effect of two sources leads to the small-scale tsunami.


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