Coseismic and postseismic deformation from the 2007 Bengkulu earthquake based on GPS Data

On September 12, 2007, a M8.5 megathrust earthquake occurred along the Sunda trench near Bengkulu, West Sumatra. GPS data in Sumatra have indicated the coseismic and postseismic deformations resulting from this earthquake. Our estimate of coseismic displacements suggests that the earthquake displaced up to ~1.8m at GPS stations located north of the epicenter. Moreover, our principal strain estimation in the region suggests that the maximum coseismic extensional strain is ~40 ppm. Our analysis of GPS data in the region suggests that the postseismic decay of the 2007 Bengkulu earthquake was 46 days, estimated using a logarithmic function.

Postseismic Relaxation Following the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence

ABSTRACT The 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence involved predominantly right-lateral strike slip on a northwest–southeast-trending subvertical fault in the 6 July M 7.1 mainshock, preceded by left-lateral strike slip on a northeast–southwest-trending subvertical fault in the 4 July M 6.4 foreshock. To characterize the postseismic deformation, we assemble displacements measured by Global Positioning System (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar. The geodetic measurements illuminate vigorous postseismic deformation for at least 21 months following the earthquake sequence. The postseismic transient deformation is particularly well constrained from survey-mode GPS (sGPS) in the epicentral region carried out during the weeks after the mainshock. We interpret these observations with mechanical models including afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation of the lower crust and mantle asthenosphere. During the first 21 months, up to several centimeters of horizontal motions are measured at continuous GPS and sGPS sites, with amplitude that diminishes slowly with distance from the mainshock rupture, suggestive of deeper afterslip or viscoelastic relaxation. We find that although afterslip involving right-lateral strike slip along the mainshock fault traces and their deeper extensions reach a few decimeters, most postseismic deformation is attributable to viscoelastic relaxation of the lower crust and mantle. Within the Basin and Range crust and mantle, we infer a transient lower crust viscosity several times that of the mantle asthenosphere. The transient mantle asthenosphere viscosity is ∼1.3×1017 Pa s, and the adjacent Central Valley transient mantle asthenosphere viscosity is ∼7×1017 Pa s, about five times higher and consistent with an asymmetry in postseismic horizontal motions across the mainshock surface rupture.

MCMC inversion of the transient and steady-state creep flow law parameters of dunite under dry and wet conditions

The rheology of the upper mantle impacts a variety of geodynamic processes, including postseismic deformation following great earthquakes and post-glacial rebound. The deformation of upper mantle rocks is controlled by the rheology of olivine, the most abundant upper mantle mineral. The mechanical properties of olivine at steady state are well constrained. However, the physical mechanism underlying transient creep, an evolutionary, hardening phase converging to steady state asymptotically, is still poorly understood. Here, we constrain a constitutive framework that captures transient creep and steady state creep consistently using the mechanical data from laboratory experiments on natural dunites containing at least 94% olivine under both hydrous and anhydrous conditions. The constitutive framework represents a Burgers assembly with a thermally activated nonlinear stress-versus-strain-rate relationship for the dashpots. Work hardening is obtained by the evolution of a state variable that represents internal stress. We determine the flow law parameters for dunites using a Markov chain Monte Carlo method. We find the activation energy $$430\pm 20$$ 430 ± 20 and $$250\pm 10$$ 250 ± 10 kJ/mol for dry and wet conditions, respectively, and the stress exponent $$2.0\pm 0.1$$ 2.0 ± 0.1 for both the dry and wet cases for transient creep, consistently lower than those of steady-state creep, suggesting a separate physical mechanism. For wet dunites in the grain-boundary sliding regime, the grain-size dependence is similar for transient creep and steady-state creep. The lower activation energy of transient creep could be due to a higher jog density of the corresponding soft-slip system. More experimental data are required to estimate the activation volume and water content exponent of transient creep. The constitutive relation used and its associated flow law parameters provide useful constraints for geodynamics applications. Graphical Abstract

The July 2020 Mw 6.3 Nima Earthquake, Central Tibet: A Shallow Normal-Faulting Event Rupturing in a Stepover Zone

On 22 July 2020, an Mw 6.3 earthquake with a predominantly normal-faulting mechanism struck the Yibug Caka fault zone, central Tibet, where the overall tectonic environment is characterized by left-lateral strike-slip motion. This event offers a chance to gain insight into the tectonic deformation and the cause of shallow normal-faulting earthquakes in this little studied region. Here, we use Sentinel-1A/B Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar data to investigate the coseismic and postseismic deformation related to this earthquake. The earthquake ruptured a previously mapped West Yibug Caka fault and is dominated by normal slip with a peak value of 1.9 m at depth of 6.9 km. Postseismic deformation analysis indicates that the observed subsidence signals of up to ∼4.7 cm are a consequence of afterslip. Most of the afterslip is confined at depths between 0.8 and 8.4 km, peaking at 0.27 m at depth of 6.1 km. The significant coseismic slip and afterslip involved in the earthquake highlights a complex interaction between the major normal fault and the secondary synthetic fault. By an integrated analysis of the inversions, regional geology geomorphology, fault kinematics, and seismicity background, we propose a tectonic model that attributes the occurrence of this normal-faulting event to the release of extensional stress in a stepover zone controlled by the northeast-striking sinistral strike-slip Riganpei Co fault and Bu Zang Ai fault. Compared with that the structural stepover often acts as a barrier to affect the propagation of earthquake rupture, our study demonstrates that the failure of a stepover may potentially induce the occurrence of earthquake along the bounding strike-slip faults.

Modeling long-term volcanic deformation at Kusatsu-Shirane and Asama volcanoes, Japan, using the GNSS coordinate time series

Long-term deformation of Kusatsu-Shirane and Asama volcanoes in central Japan were investigated using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements. Large postseismic deformation caused by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake—which obscures the long-term volcanic deformation—was effectively removed by approximating the postseismic and other recent tectonic deformation in terms of quadrature of the geographical eastings/northings. Subsequently, deformation source parameters were estimated by the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method and linear inversion, employing an analytical model that calculates the deformation from an arbitrary oriented prolate/oblate spheroid. The deformation source of Kusatsu-Shirane volcano was found to be a sill-like oblate spheroid located a few kilometers northwest of the Yugama crater at a depth of approximately 4 $$\text {km}$$ km , while that of Asama was also estimated to be a sill-like oblate spheroid beneath the western flank of the edifice at a depth of approximately 12 $$\text {km}$$ km , along with the previously reported shallow east–west striking dike at a depth of approximately 1 $$\text {km}$$ km . It was revealed that (1) volume changes of the Kusatsu-Shirane deformation source and the shallow deformation source of Asama were correlated with the volcanic activities of the corresponding volcanoes, and (2) the Asama deep source has been steadily losing volume, which may indicate that the volcano will experience fewer eruptions in the near future.

Co- and postseismic slip behaviors extracted from decadal seafloor geodesy after the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake

Investigations of the co- and postseismic processes of the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake provide essential information on the seismic cycle in the Japan Trench. Although almost all of the source region lies beneath the seafloor, recent seafloor geophysical instruments have enabled to detect the near-field signals of both the coseismic rupture and the postseismic stress relaxation phenomena. Annual-scale seafloor geodesy contributed to refining the postseismic deformation models, specifically to the incorporation of viscoelastic effects. However, because of the insufficiency in the spatial coverage and observation period of seafloor geodetic observations, no consensus on crustal deformation models has been reached, especially on the along-strike extent of the main rupture, even for the coseismic process. To decompose the postseismic transient processes in and around the source region, i.e., viscoelastic relaxation and afterslip, long-term postseismic geodetic observations on the seafloor play an essential role. Here, from decadal seafloor geodetic data, we provide empirical evidence for offshore aseismic afterslip on the rupture edges that had almost decayed within 2–3 year. The afterslip regions are considered to have stopped the north–south rupture propagation due to their velocity strengthening frictional properties. In the southern source region (~ 37° N), despite not being resolved by coseismic geodetic data, shallow tsunamigenic slip near the trench is inferred from postseismic seafloor geodesy as a subsequent viscoelastic deformation causing persistent seafloor subsidence at a geodetic site off-Fukushima. After a decade from the earthquake, the long-term viscoelastic relaxation process in the oceanic asthenosphere is currently in progress and is still dominant not only in the rupture area, but also in the off-Fukushima region.