Earthquake triggering and delaying caused by fault interaction on Xianshuihe fault belt,southwestern China

The coseismic Coulomb stress change caused by fault interaction and its influences on the triggering and delaying of earthquake are briefly discussed.The Xianshuihe fault belt consists of Luhuo,Daofu,Kangding,Qianning and Ganzi fault.Luohuo(Ms=7.6,1973)-Kangding(Ms=6.2,1975)-Daofu(Ms=6.9,1981)-Ms=6.0,1982)earthquake is a seismic sequence continuous on the time axis with magnitude greater than6.0.They occurred on the Luhuo.Kangding,Daofu and Ganzi fault,respectively.The coseismic Coulomb stress changes caused by each earthquake on its surrounding major faults and microcracks are calculated,and their effects on the triggering and delaying of the next earthquake and aftershocks are analyzed.It is shown that each earthquake of the sequence occurred on the fault segment with coseismic Coulomb stress increases caused by its predecessors,and most after-shocks are distributed along the microcracks with relatively larger coseismic Coulomb stress increases resulted from the main shock.With the fault interaction considered,the seismic potential of each segment along Xianshuihe fault belt is reassessed,and contrasted with those predicted results ignoring coseismic Coulomb stress change,the significance of fault interaction and its effect on triggering and delaying of earthquake are emphasized.It is con-cluded that fault interaction plays a very important role on seismic potential of Xianshuihe fault belt,and the maximal change of future earthquake probability on fault segment is up to 30.5%.     

2010年4月14日玉树Ms7.1地震对余震的触发研究

This paper calculates the static stress changes generated by the Yushu M_S 7. 1 earthquake in Qinghai Province. On the basis of regional stress,we take account of the static stress change triggered by the Yushu M_S 7. 1 earthquake to find the optimally oriented fault planes,then calculate the Coulomb stress change on the optimally oriented fault plane. The results indicate that most of the aftershocks are triggered by the mainshock. The image of Coulomb stress changes is also in accord with regional earthquakes ( M_L ≥3. 0 ) distribution,but the value is lower than 0. 01MPa. In addition,this paper calculates the Coulomb stress changes in the case that the aftershock fault plane is the same as the main shock. Through comparison,we find that the image of Coulomb stress changes obtained using the "optimally oriented fault"approach is more consistent with the distribution of Yushu aftershocks and regional earthquakes.     

Co- and post-seismic surface deformation and gravity changes of Ms7.0 Lushan,earthquake

On April 20, 2013, an earthquake with mag- nitude 7.0 occurred in the southwest of the Longmenshan fault system in and around Lushan County, Sichuan Province, China. This devastating earthquake killed hun- dreds of people, injured 10 thousand others, and collapsed countless buildings. In order to analyze the potential risk of this big earthquake, we calculate the co- and post-seismic surface deformation and gravity changes of this event. In this work, a multilayered crustal model is designed, and the elastic dislocation theory is utilized to calculate the co- and post-seismic deformations and gravity changes. During the process, a rupture model obtained by seismic waveform inversion （Liu et al. Sci China Earth Sci 56（7）： 1187-1192, 2013） is applied. The time-dependent relaxation results show that the influences on Lushan and its surrounding areas caused by the Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake will last as long as 10 years. The maximum horizontal displacement, vertical uplift, and settlement are about 5 cm, 21.24 cm, and 0.16 m, respectively; the maximal positive and nega- tive values of gravity changes are 45 and -0.47 μGal, respectively. These results may be applied to evaluate the long-term potential risk caused by this earthquake and to provide necessary information for post-earthquake reconstruction.     

以2008年汶川8.0级地震为例分析地震触发的静态库仑应力计算的不确定性

Static Coulomb stress change induced by earthquake slip is frequently used to explain earthquake activities and aftershock distribution.However,some parameters for the Coulomb stress calculation are unable to be well constrained from laboratory experiments and field observations.Different parameters may directly affect the pattern of static Coulomb stress.The static Coulomb stress changes induced by the Wenchuan earthquake calculated by six research groups are not consistent with each other.To investigate how the parameters affect the calculation results,we change the parameters in turn through modeling and compare the results of different calculation parameters.We find that gravity,position and strike of receiver faults have little influence on coseismic Coulomb stress calculations,but other parameters can change the value and sign of the results in various degrees especially around the earthquake rupture plane.Therefore the uncertainty analysis of static Coulomb stress change induced by earthquake should be taken into consideration in the earthquake hazard analysis.     

Analysis of Gravity Changes before and after the Akto MS6.7 Earthquake in 2016

This paper analyzes the characteristics of time sequence changes of gravity points near the epicenter, different changes of measuring lines and gravity changes of measuring areas in point-line-area manner respectively with the 5-period mobile gravity data through densified observation by the South Xinjiang Observation Network after the 2015-2016 Akto earthquake in Xinjiang. The gravity observation results before the earthquake indicate that the Wuqia-Bulungkol area near the epicenter presented the trend of gravity value increasing since 2015, but the gravity value decreased half a year before the earthquake, and witnessed a high gradient zone of gravity changes during some periods before the earthquake. The gravity observation results after the earthquake show that there is a trend of opposite changes in gravity difference on the northern and southern sides of Bulunkou, and good correspondence exists between the characteristics of gravity field changes near the epicenter before and after the earthquake and the geologic structure distribution in the area.     

Stress changes on major faults caused by 2013 Lushan earthquake and its relationship with 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

On April 20, 2013, an Ms7.0 earthquake occurred in Ya’an-Lushan region, Sichuan Province, China, killing and injuring morethan one thousand people. Therefore, it is critical to outline the areas with potential aftershocks before reconstruction andre-settlement as to avoid future disasters. Based on the elastic dislocation theory and multi-layered lithospheric model, we calculate the co-and post-seismic stress changes caused by the Wenchuan and Lushan earthquakes to discuss the relationshipbetween Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake and Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake, the influences on the distribution of aftershock caused bythe Lushan earthquake, and the stress changes on major faults in this region. It is shown that the Coulomb failure stress increment on the hypocenter of Lushan earthquake caused by the Wenchuan earthquake is about 0.0037-0.0113 MPa. And the possible maximum value (0.0113 MPa) is larger than the threshold of stress triggering. Therefore, the occurrence of Lushanearthquake is probably effectively promoted by the Wenchuan earthquake. The aftershock distribution is well explained by theco-seismic stress changes of Lushan earthquake. By the two ends of the rupture of Lushan earthquake with increased Coulombfailure stress, a lack of aftershock recordings indicates the high seismic hazard. The stress accumulation and correspondingseismic hazard on the Kangding-Dafu segment of the Xinshuihe fault, the Beichuan-Yingxiu fault, the Pengxian-Guanxianfault, and the Ya’an fault are further increased by the Lushan earthquake and post-seismic process of Wenchuan earthquake.     

Joint processing and analysis of seismic gravity measurements in Capital Circle area

In Capital Circle area, there are three groups of repeated gravity measurements observed by different institutes using different instruments or methods. The simultaneous adjustment of absolute and relative measurements and the elimination of systematic error among the relative measurements have been carded out in this paper. Thus an unified temporal gravity change system with absolute reference has been established. On the basis of this, the crustal subsidence effect on gravity, which belongs to non-tectonic factor, is analyzed and the station displacement corrections are carried out, so that the long-wave disturbance is eliminated. So far our following aims are realized： the advantages of the absolute and relative measurement methods are complementary to each other; the contradiction and environment disturbance are eliminated; the amounts of information are enlarged; the sampling interval of time domain is compressed. In a word, the ability of identifying the tectonic activity process is enhanced. The results show that： there are systematic errors between the two groups of relative measurements and within the data of 10 campaigns ; the uneven local crustal subsidence in the southeast of the study area results in a linear rise of gravity value at 10 stations; they can be corrected by the regression analysis. The maps of revised temporal gravity change can obviously and integrally reflect the Ms=5.0 earthquake in Guye on October 6, 1995.     

Frequency-dependent rupture process,stress change,and seismogenic mechanism of the 25 April 2015 Nepal Gorkha M_w 7.8 earthquake

On 25 April 2015,an M_w 7.8 earthquake occurred on the Main Himalaya Thrust fault with a dip angle of~7° about77 km northwest of Kathmandu,Nepal.This Nepal Gorkha event is the largest one on the Himalayan thrust belt since 1950.Here we use the compressive sensing method in the frequency domain to track the seismic radiation and rupture process of this event using teleseismic P waves recorded by array stations in North America.We also compute the distribution of static shear stress changes on the fault plane from a coseismic slip model.Our results indicate a dominant east-southeastward unilateral rupture process from the epicenter with an average rupture speed of ~3 km s~(-1).Coseismic radiation of this earthquake shows clear frequency-dependent features.The lower frequency(0.05-0.3 Hz) radiation mainly originates from large coseismic slip regions with negative coseismic shear stress changes.In comparison,higher frequency(0.3-0.6 Hz) radiation appears to be from the down-dip part around the margin of large slip areas,which has been loaded and presents positive coseismic shear stress changes.We propose an asperity model to interpret this Nepal earthquake sequence and compare the frequency-dependent coseismic radiation with that in subduction zones.Such frequency-dependent radiation indicates the depth-varying frictional properties on the plate interface of the Nepal section in the main Himalaya thrust system,similar to previous findings in oceanic subduction zones.Our findings provide further evidence of the spatial correlation between changes of static stress status on the fault plane and the observed frequency-dependent coseismic radiation during large earthquakes.Our results show that the frequency-dependent coseismic radiation is not only found for megathrust earthquakes in the oceanic subduction environment,but also holds true for thrust events in the continental collision zone.     

Gravity observations along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and an application to the Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake

This paper introduces relative and absolute gravity change observations in the eastern portion of the Tibetan Plateau. We analyze and discuss a change that occurred in 2010 in the gravity along the eastern margin of the plateau and the relationship between this change and the 2013 Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake. Our results show that： （1） before the Lushan MsT.0 earthquake, gravity anomalies along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau changed drastically. The Lushan earthquake occurred at the bend of the high gradient zone of gravity var- iation along the southern edge of the Longmenshan fault zone. （2） The 2013 Lushan earthquake occurred less than 100 km away from the epicenter of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Lushan and Wenchuan are located at the center of a four- quadrant section with different gravity anomalies, which may suggest that restoration after the Wenchuan earthquake may have played a role in causing the Lushan earthquake. （3） A medium-term prediction based on changes in gravity anoma- lies was made before the Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake, in par- ticular, a prediction of epicenter location.     

Study on Postseismic Impact of Wenchuan Earthquake on the Sichuan-Yunnan Region Based on Three-Dimensional Viscoelastic Finite Element Method

Based on the lateral segmentation and vertical stratification characteristics of the crustal medium in Sichuan-Yunnan region,and the asymmetry of the static dislocations on the coseismic fault plane of the Wenchuan M_S8. 0 earthquake,we built a three-dimensional viscoelastic finite element model of the crust in the Sichuan-Yunnan region. The postseismic impact of the Wenchuan M_S8. 0 earthquake on the Sichuan-Yunnan region was studied.The results show that:① The far-field horizontal deformation caused by the viscoelastic relaxation of the medium in the 10 years after the earthquake is about 0-20 mm within the Sichuan-Yunnan diamond-shaped block,which has a greater influence on north side and smaller on south side.② In the 10 years after the earthquake,the far-field vertical deformation caused by the viscoelastic relaxation effect of the medium is small,and it shows an increase of about 0-4 mm in most areas of the Sichuan-Yunnan diamond-shaped block.③ The Xianshuihe fault and the eastern segment of the East Kunlun fault,which are close to the seismogenic fault,show a high gradient on deformation fields after the earthquake.④ In order to compare with the strong earthquake activity in the SichuanYunnan region after the Wenchuan earthquake, the horizontal stress state and the Coulomb failure stress change of the active block boundary are also calculated. From the spatial distribution of the coseismic and postseismic displacement field,the fault activity characteristics reflected by the stress state and the stress loading of the fault layer reflected by the Coulomb failure stress change,there is a certain correlation with the spatial distribution of strong earthquake activity in this region.     

Advances in research on earthquake fluids hydrogeology in China:a review

Monitoring of subsurface fluid （underground fluid） is an important part of efforts for earthquake prediction in China. The nationwide network, which monitors groundwater level, water temperature, and radon and mercury in groundwater, has been constructed in the last decades. Large amounts of abnormal fluid changes before and after major earthquakes have been recorded, providing precious data for research in earthquake sciences. Many studies have been done in earthquake fluid hydrogeology in order to probe the nature of the earthquake. Much progress in earthquake fluid hydrogeology has been made in the last decades. The paper provides a review of the advances in research on earthquake fluid hydrogeology over the last 40 years in China. It deals with the following five aspects： （1） an introduction to the development history of monitoring networks construction; （2） cases of different subsurface fluid changes recorded before some major earthquakes which occurred in the last decades; （3） characteristics of subsurface fluid changes following major earthquakes; （4） mechanism of subsurface fluid changes before and following earthquakes; （5） application of earthquake fluids in the hydrogeology field.     

A theoretical study of correlation and earthquake magnitude based models between scaled energy on two source displacement

The correlation of the scaled energy,e = Es/ Mo, versus earthquake magnitude, Ms, is studied based on two models： （1） Model 1 based on the use of the time function of the average displacements, with a ω^-2 source spectrum, across a fault plane; and （2） Model 2 based on the use of the time function of the average displacements, with a ω^-3 source spectrum, across a fault plane. For the second model, there are two cases： （a） As ζ= T, where r is the rise time and T the rupture time, lg（e） - -Ms; and （b） As ζ 〈〈 T, lg（e）- -（1/2）Ms. The second model leads to a negative value of e. This means that Model 2 cannot work for studying the present problem. The results obtained from Model 1 suggest that the source model is a factor, yet not a unique one, in controlling the correlation of e versus Ms.     

Focal Mechanism Solutions of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake sequence from P-wave polarities and SH/P amplitude ratios:new results and implications

Abstract The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, a major intraplate earthquake with Mw 7.9, occurred on the slowly deforming Longmenshan fault. To better understand the causes of this devastating earthquake, we need knowledge of the regional stress field and the underlying geodynamic processes. Here, we determine focal mechanism solutions （FMSs） of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake sequence （WES） using both P-wave first-motion polarity data and SH/P amplitude ratio （AR） data. As P-wave polarities are more reliable information, they are given priority over SH/ PAR, the latter of which are used only when the former has loose constraint on the FMSs. We collect data from three categories： （1） permanent stations deployed by the China Earthquake Administration （CEA）; （2） the Western Sichuan Passive Seismic Array （WSPSA） deployed by Institute of Geology, CEA; （3） global stations from Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. Finally, 129 events with magnitude over Ms 4.0 in the 2008 WES are identified to have well-constrained FMSs. Among them, 83 are well constrained by P-wave polarities only as shown by Cai et al. （Earthq Sci 24（1）：115-125,2011）, and the rest of which are newly constrained by incorporating SH/P AR. Based on the spatial distribution and FMSs of the WES, we draw following conclusions： （1） the principle compressional directions of most FMSs of the WES are subhorizontal, generally in agreement with the conclusion given by Cai et al. （2011） but with a few modifications that the compressional directions are WNW-ESE around Wenchuan and ENE-WSW around Qingchuan, respectively. The subhorizontal compressional direction along the Longmenshan fault from SW to NE seems to have a leftlateral rotation, which agrees well with regional stress field inverted by former researchers （e.g., Xu et al., Acta Seismol Sin 30（5）, 1987; Acta Geophys Sin 32（6）, 1989; Cui et al., Seismol Geol 27（2）：234-242, 2005）; （2） the FMSs of the events not only reflected the regional stress state of the Longmenshan region, but also were obviously controlled by the faults to some extent, which was pointed out by Cai et al. （2011） and Yi et al. （Chin J Geophys 55（4）：1213-1227, 2012）; （3） while the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and some of its strong aftershocks released most of the elastic energy accumulated on the Longmen- shan fault, some other aftershocks seem to occur just for releasing the elastic energy promptly created by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and some of its strong aftershocks. （4） Our results further suggest that the Longmenshan fault from Wenchuan to Beichuan was nearly fully destroyed by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and accordingly propose that there is less probability for great earthquakes in the middle part of the Longmenshan fault in the near future, although there might be a barrier to the southwest of Wenchuan and it is needed to pay some attention on it in the near future.     

Processes of the displacement field change of the 2009 April 6 M_W6.3 L’Aquila earthquake using persistent scatterer and small baseline methods

Using a time series method that combines both the persistent scatterer and small baseline approaches, we analyzed 9 scenes Envisat ASAR data over the L＇Aquila earthquake, and obtained a Shocke＇s displacement field and its evolution processes. The results show that： （1） Envisat ASAR clearly detected the whole processes of displacement field of the L＇Aquila earthquake, and distinct variations at different stages of the displacement field. （2） Preseismic creep displacement → displacement mutation when faulting → constantly slowed down after the earthquake. （3） The area of the strongest deformation and ground rupture was a low-lying oval depression region to the southeast. Surface faulting within a zone of about 22 km× 14 km, with an orientation of 135°, occurred along the NW-striking and SW-dipping Paganica-S. Demetrio normal fault. （4） In analyzing an area of about 54 km x 59 km, bounded by north-south axis to the epicenter, the displacement field has significant characteristics of a watershed： westward of the epicenter shows uplift with maximum of 130 mm in line-of-sight （LOS）, and east of the epicenter was a region with 220 mm of maximum subsidence in the LOS, concentrating on the rupture zone, the majority of which formed in the course of faulting and subsequence.     

fmax and fault zone property of Lushan earthquake of 20 April 2013, Sichuan,China

In this study, we determined fnax from near- field accelerograms of the Lushan earthquake of April 20, 2013 through spectra analysis. The result shows that the values of fmax derived from five different seismography stations are very close though these stations roughly span about 100 km along the strike. This implies that the cause offmax is mainly the seismic source process rather than the site effect. Moreover, according to the source-cause model of Papageorgiou and Aki （Bull Seism Soc Am 73：693-722, 1983）, we infer that the cohesive zone width of the rupture of the Lushan earthquake is about 204 with an uncertainty of 13 m. We also find that there is a significant bulge between 30 and 45 Hz in the amplitude spectra of accel- erograms of stations 51YAL and 51QLY, and we confirm that it is due to seismic waves＇ reverberation of the sedi- mentary soil layer beneath these stations.     

Gravity change observed in a local gravity network and its implication to seasonal precipitation in Dali county,Yunnan province,China

This study investigates data-processing methods and examines the precipitation effect on gravity measurements at the Dali gravity network, established in 2005. High-quality gravity data were collected during four measurement campaigns. To use the gravity data validly, some geophysical corrections must be considered carefully. We first discuss data-processing methods using weighted leastsquares adjustment with the constraint of the absolute gravity datum. Results indicate that the gravity precision can be improved if all absolute gravity data are used as constraints and if calibration functions of relative gravimeters are modeled within the observation function. Using this data-processing scheme, the mean point gravity precision is better than 12 lgal. After determining the best data-processing scheme, we then process the gravity data obtained in the four measurement campaigns, and obtain gravity changes in three time periods. Results show that the gravity has a remarkable change of more than 50 lgal in the first time period from Apr–May of 2005 to Aug–Sept of 2007. To interpret the large gravity change, a mean water mass change(0.6 m in height) is assumed in the ETOPO1 topographic model. Calculations of the precipitation effect on gravity show that it can reach the same order of the observed gravity change. It is regarded as a main source of the remarkable gravity change in the Dali gravity network, suggesting that the precipitation effect on gravity measurements must be considered carefully.     

叠溪地震和地震地质概说

1调查经过1933年8月25日大约在下午2时半,四川茂县之北叠溪,忽然发生大地震,即时间附近群山崩倒,叠溪城全部毁灭,岷江断流。叠溪周围30里内,属于强烈地震区,在这一范围内,任何房屋庐舍,全部破坏,群山崖壁,全部崩坍。在叠溪圆径百里之内,所有道路都被破坏,不能通行。邮电线路,全部不通。当时只知茂汶     

新搜集到的《嘉陵江日报》关于叠溪地震的报道(根据原件电子扫描稿校对)

民国期间的《嘉陵江日报》对1933年发生在四川省茂县叠溪的地震进行过系列报道,其中根据地质学家常隆庆先生的信函对于该地震考察情况的报道尤为详尽。过去,这些资料从未被地震历史资料的文献收录,鲜为地震工作者所知,具有较高的史料价值。整理转载这6000余字的资料,并作了注释和说明,相信能够为今后的地震史料研究提供参考。     

Failure time variation derived from R-S relation： the role of the static stress perturbation

In general, earthquake cycle related to earthquake faulting could include four major processes which could be described by(1) fault locking,(2) self-acceleration or nucleation(possible foreshocks),(3) coseismic slip, and(4) post-stress relaxation and afterslip. A sudden static stress change/perturbation in the surrounding crust can advance/ delay the fault instability or failure time and modify earthquake rates. Based on a simple one-dimensional spring-slider block model with the combination of rate-and-statedependent friction relation, in this study, we have approximately derived the simple analytical solutions of clock advance/delay of fault failures caused by a sudden static Coulomb stress change applied in the different temporal evolution periods during an earthquake faulting. The results have been used in the physics-based explanation of delayed characteristic earthquake in Parkfield region, California, in which the next characteristic earthquake of M 6.0 after 1966 occurred in 2004 instead of around 1988 according to its characteristic return period of 22 years. At the same time, the analytical solutions also indicate that the time advance/ delay in Coulomb stress change derived by the dislocation model has a certain limitation and fundamental flaw. Furthermore, we discussed the essential difference between rate- and state-variable constitutive(R–S) model and Coulomb stress model used commonly in current earthquake triggering study, and demonstrated that, in fact, the Coulomb stress model could be involved in the R–S model. The results, we have obtained in this study, could be used in the development of time-dependent fault interaction model and the probability calculation related to the time-dependent and renewal earthquake prediction model.