Geodetic evidence for conjugate faulting during the 1988 Tennant Creek, Australia earthquake sequence

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Repeat levelling measurements and detailed topographic profiles from the epicentral area of the 1988 January 22 Tennant Creek, Australia earthquakes are used to constrain the geometry of faulting associated with three M 6+ earthquakes. The observed elevation changes are modelled assuming elastic deformation and uniform slip on several faults. The vertical deformation data are poorly fit by a single-fault model, and require at least three distinct faults. In the preferred model, two faults on either end of the zone of surface rupture have similar orientations, but the central fault has an orientation conjugate to the flanking faults. This interpretation is consistent with the identification of the fault planes with well-defined, dipping zones of aftershock hypocentres determined with data from portable seismograph arrays. It is also consistent with the sense of surficial deformation documented by 75 topographic profiles across the scarps. However, a fourth fault associated with possible conjugate faulting in the central fault segment at the time of the second main shock is not required by the levelling data.     

A fault scarp in an urban area identified by LiDAR survey: A Case study on the Itoigawa–Shizuoka Tectonic Line, central Japan

A light detection and ranging (LiDAR) survey was conducted in a densely built-up area to generate a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) to look for active faults. The urban district of Matsumoto City in central Japan is located in a 3-km² basin along the Itoigawa–Shizuoka Tectonic Line active fault system, one of Japanese onshore fault systems with the highest earthquake probability. A high-resolution DEM at a 0.5-m-grid interval was obtained after removing the effects of laser returns from buildings, clouds and vegetation. It revealed a continuous scarp, up to ~ 2 m in height. Borehole data and archaeological studies indicate the scarp was formed during the most recent faulting event associated with historical earthquakes. In addition, the fault scarp strongly supports that the urban district is in a pull-apart basin related to a fault step-over between two left-lateral strike-slip faults. Consequently, accurate interpretation of fault geometry is crucial to provide estimates of future surface deformation and to allow modeling of basin structure and strong ground motion. Thus, the LiDAR mapping survey in urban districts is effective for detailed active fault mapping in order to constrain basin structure and to forecast the exact location of surface rupturing associated with large earthquakes.     

龙陵地区强震活动的深部背景

对研究区（23.9°N～25.1°N,97.8°E～99.0°E）内地壳和上地幔S波速度结构与强震的关系和强震活动的深部背景进行了探讨。活动断裂的运动是孕育和发生强震的重要诱因,而有利于高应变积聚的深部地质构造则是产生强震的关键条件。研究区内,以瑞丽—龙陵断裂为界,西北侧地壳和上地幔存在大范围低速区,不利于高应变的积聚,不容易孕育和发生强震;东南侧上地幔无明显低速层,地壳内有较小范围低速层,介质偏于刚性,易于积累高应变,孕育和发生强震的可能性较大。     

Palaeoseismicity of the Oquirrh fault, Utah from shallow seismic tomography

The magnitude and frequency of normal-fault palaeoearthquakes are usually determined by trenching studies that ascertain the size and number of colluvial wedges along the fault. Such information can be invaluable in predicting the seismic hazard and potential for a future earthquake in that region. Digging trenches across normal faults, however, is environmentally intrusive, expensive and limited in the penetration depth. To overcome these problems we propose the use of 3-D seismic tomography as a means to identify the shapes and sizes of colluvial wedges along normal faults. As an example,2-D and 3-D seismic surveys were conducted across the Oquirrh fault, Utah with the purpose of imaging the normal-fault structure to a depth of about 10  m. Results show that the 3-D tomogram clearly delineates the fault zone and a colluvial wedge, both of which correlate extremely well with the geological cross-section interpreted from an adjacent trench. The thickness of the colluvial wedge image is used in conjunction with a seismic section to compute an estimate of a 6.8 moment magnitude earthquake for the most recent event on this fault, which is in close agreement with the 7.0 estimate based on a nearby trenching study. These tomographic results demonstrate, for the first time, that seismic imaging methods can be used in some cases to estimate unambiguously the shapes of colluvial wedges and the sizes of prehistoric earthquakes. Thus, seismic tomography has the possibility of providing cheaper, deeper and wider, but less resolved, images of fault systems than the intrusive excavation of trenches across faults.     

A multidisciplinary study of a slow-slipping fault for seismic hazard assessment: the example of the Middle Durance Fault (SE France)

Assessing seismic hazard in continental interiors is difficult because these regions are characterized by low strain rates and may be struck by infrequent destructive earthquakes. In this paper, we provide an example showing that interpretations of seismic cross sections combined with other kinds of studies such as analysis of microseismicity allow the whole seismogenic source area to be imaged in this type of region. The Middle Durance Fault (MDF) is an 80-km-long fault system located southeastern France that has a moderate but regular seismicity and some palaeoseismic evidence for larger events. It behaves as an oblique ramp with a left-lateral-reverse fault slip and has a low strain rate. MDF is one of the rare slow active fault system monitored by a dedicated dense velocimetric short period network. This study showed a fault system segmented in map and cross section views which consists of staircase basement faults topped by listric faults ramping off Triassic evaporitic beds. Seismic sections allowed the construction of a 3-D structural model used for accurate location of microseismicity. Southern part of MDF is mainly active in the sedimentary cover. In its northern part and in Alpine foreland, seismicity deeper than 8 km was also recorded meaning active faults within the crust cannot be excluded. Seismogenic potential of MDF was roughly assessed. Resulting source sizes and estimated slip rates imply that the magnitude upper limit ranges from 6.0 to 6.5 with a return period of a few thousand years. The present study shows that the coupling between 3-D fault geometry imaging and accurate location of microseismicity provides a robust approach to analyse active fault sources and consequently a more refined seismic hazard assessment.     

A note on the surface volume change of shallow earthquakes

Summary. This note presents an exact analytical formula for determining the magnitude of coseismic surface volume change (δ V ) of earthquake faults in a half-space. For a Poisson solid, the formula is remarkably simple; δ V = M _zz |8μ, where M _zz is one of the moment tensor elements of the source. Maximum δ V values derive from dip slip on faults plunging 45°. For these events, surface volume changes of 0.0001 and 4.3 km³ can be expected for magnitude 5 and 8 earthquakes respectively. All of the coseismic surface volume change is recovered in the interseismic period through relaxation of the Earth and rebound of the surface. A useful rule of thumb for estimating the magnitude of vertical rebound in 45° dip slip events is δ h _p=Δ s /24, where Δ s is the coseismic slip on the fault.     

Spatial distribution of earthquakes: the two-point correlation function

Summary. The distribution of distances between pairs of earthquake epicentres and hypocentres has been determined for four local and two world-wide catalogues. These spatial correlation functions shows that the number of events per unit volume at distance R from any earthquake is proportional to R ^-α, where a is close to 1.0 for shallow earthquakes and increases to 1.5 or possibly larger for deeper events. This distribution of earthquakes is independent of magnitude and independent of the dimensions of the region under consideration. These results place limits on possible models of earthquake fault geometries.     

New seismogenic source and deep structures revealed by the 1999 Chia-yi earthquake sequence in southwestern Taiwan

In a tectonically active setting large earthquakes are always threats; however, they may also be useful in elucidating the subsurface geology. Instrumentally recorded seismicity is, therefore, widely utilized to extend our knowledge into the deeper crust, especially where basement is involved. It is because the earthquakes are triggered by underground stress changes that usually corresponding to the framework of geological structures. Hidden faults, therefore, can be recognized and their extension as well as orientation can be estimated. Both above are of relevance for assessment on seismic hazard of a region, since the active faults are supposed to be re-activated and cause large earthquakes. In this study, we analysed the 1999 October 22 earthquake sequence that occurred in southwestern Taiwan. Two major seismicity clusters were identified with spatial distribution between depths of 10 and 16 km. One cluster is nearly vertical and striking 032°, corresponding to the strike-slip Meishan fault (MSF) that generated the 1906 surface rupture. Another cluster strikes 190° and dips 64° to the west, which is interpreted as west-vergent reverse fault, in contrast to previous expectation of east vergence. Our analysis of the focal solutions of all the larger earthquakes in the 1999 sequence with the 3-D distribution of all the earthquakes over the period 1990–2004 allows us reinterpret the structural framework and suggest previously unreognized seismogenic sources in this area. We accordingly suggest: (1) multiple detachment faults are present in southwestern Taiwan coastal plain and (2) additional seismogenic sources consist of tear faults and backthrust faults in addition to sources associated with west-vergent fold-and-thrust belt.     

DEM-based morphometry of range-front escarpments in Attica, central Greece, and its relation to fault slip rates

In this paper, we apply current geological knowledge on faulting processes to digital processing of Digital Elevation Models (DEM) in order to pinpoint locations of active faults. The analysis is based on semiautomatic interpretation of 20- and 60-m DEM and their products (slope, shaded relief). In Northern–Eastern Attica, five normal fault segments were recognized on the 20-m DEM. All faults strike WNW–ESE. The faults are from west to east: Thriassion (THFS), Fili (FIFS), Afidnai (AFFS), Avlon (AVFS), and Pendeli (PEFS) and range in length from 10 to 20 km. All of them show geomorphic evidence for recent activity such as prominent range-front escarpments, V-shaped valleys, triangular facets, and tilted footwall areas. However, escarpment morphometry and footwall geometry reveal systematic differences between the “external” segments (PEFS, THFS, and AVFS) and the “internal” segments (AFFS and FIFS), which may be due to mechanical interaction among segments and/or preexisting topography. In addition, transects across all five escarpments show mean scarp slope angles of 22.1°±0.7° for both carbonate and metamorphic bedrock. The slope angle equation for the external segments shows asymptotic behaviour with increasing height. We make an empirical suggestion that slope angle is a function of the long-term fault slip rate which ranges between 0.13 and 0.3 mm/yr. The identified faults may rupture up to magnitude 6.4–6.6 earthquakes. The analysis of the 60-m DEM shows a difference in fault patterns between Western and Northern Attica, which is related to crustal rheology variations.     

A seismological study of normal faulting in the Demirci, Alaşehir and Gediz earthquakes of 1969–70 in western Turkey: implications for the nature and geometry of deformation in the continental crust

Summary. In this study, seismological techniques are combined with surface observations to investigate the faulting associated with three large earthquakes in western Turkey. All involved normal faulting that nucleated at 6–10 km depth with dips in the range 30–50°. The two largest earthquakes, at Alaşehir (1969.3.28) and Gediz (1970.3.28), were clearly multiple events and their seismograms indicate that at least two discrete subevents were involved in producing the observed surface faulting. In addition, their seismograms contain later, longer-period signals that are likely to represent source, not structure or propagation, complexities. These later signals can be modelled by subevents with long time functions on almost flat detachment-type faults.
As a result of these observations, we propose a model for the deformation of the lower crust, in which brittle failure of the top part occurs when high strain rates are imposed during an earthquake that ruptures right through the upper, brittle crust. Under these special circumstances, seismic motion occurs on discrete faults in the lower crust, which otherwise normally deforms by distributed creep. In the case of the normal faults studied here, motion in the uppermost lower crust takes place on shallow dipping faults that are downward continuations of the steeper faults that break to the surface. The faults thus have an overall listric geometry, flattening into a weak zone below the brittle layer at a depth that is probably dependent on the termperature gradient. This interpretation explains why detachment-type mechanisms are not seen in first motion fault plane solutions of normal faulting earthquakes, and suggests an origin for the Metamorphic Core Complexes seen in the Basin and Range Province, which probably represent flat lower crustal faults, analogous to those postulated at Alaşehir and Gediz, that have been uplifted to the surface.     

大连半岛地貌,新构造运动与市区安全性

辽东半岛南端的大连半岛是一个刚性断块。其上无活动性大断裂穿过,老断裂多而规模小,在地貌和新地层上无新活动表现。穿越它们的第四纪河、海阶地均平行分布,无明显的垂直或水平错位。整个半岛第四纪以来作整体断块上升。半岛上的小震稀少零星,属刚性断块地壳应力作用下的微破坏活动。位于其上的大连市是安全的,无发生破坏性大震的危险。     

Quaternary normal faulting in southeastern Sicily (Italy):a seismic source for the 1693 large earthquake

We present geological and morphological data, combined with an analysis of seismic reflection lines across the Ionian offshore zone and information on historical earthquakes, in order to yield new constraints on active faulting in southeastern Sicily. This region, one of the most seismically active of the Mediterranean, is affected by WNW–ESE regional extension producing normal faulting of the southern edge of the Siculo–Calabrian rift zone. Our data describe two systems of Quaternary normal faults, characterized by different ages and related to distinct tectonic processes. The older NW–SE-trending normal fault segments developed up to ≈400  kyr ago and, striking perpendicular to the main front of the Maghrebian thrust belt, bound the small basins occurring along the eastern coast of the Hyblean Plateau. The younger fault system is represented by prominent NNW–SSE-trending normal fault segments and extends along the Ionian offshore zone following the NE–SW-trending Avola and Rosolini–Ispica normal faults. These faults are characterized by vertical slip rates of 0.7–3.3  mm  yr ⁻¹ and might be associated with the large seismic events of January 1693. We suggest that the main shock of the January 1693 earthquakes ( M ~ 7) could be related to a 45  km long normal fault with a right-lateral component of motion. A long-term net slip rate of about 3.7  mm  yr ⁻¹ is calculated, and a recurrence interval of about 550 ± 50  yr is proposed for large events similar to that of January 1693.     

Post-seismic reloading and temporal clustering on a single fault

Geological studies show evidence for temporal clustering of large earthquakes on individual fault systems. Since post-seismic deformation due to the inelastic rheology of the lithosphere may result in a variable loading rate on a fault throughout the interseismic period, it is reasonable to expect that the rheology of the non-seismogenic lower crust and mantle lithosphere may play a role in controlling earthquake recurrence times. We study this phenomenon using a 2-D, finite element method continuum model of the lithosphere containing a single strike-slip fault. This model builds on a previous study using a 1-D spring-dashpot-slider analogue of a single fault system to study the role of Maxwell viscoelastic relaxation in producing non-periodic earthquakes. In our 2-D model, the seismogenic portion of the fault slips when a predetermined yield stress is exceeded; stress accumulated on the seismogenic fault is shed to the viscoelastic layers below and recycled back to the seismogenic fault through viscoelastic relaxation. We find that random variation of the fault yield stress from one earthquake to the next can cause the earthquake sequence to be clustered; the amount of clustering depends on a non-dimensional number, W , called the Wallace number defined as the standard deviation of the randomly varied fault yield stress divided by the effective viscosity of the system times the tectonic loading rate. A new clustering metric based on the bimodal distribution of interseismic intervals allows us to investigate clustering behaviour of systems over a wide range of model parameters and those with multiple viscoelastic layers. For models with   W ≥ 1  clustering increases with increasing W , while those with   W ≤ 1  are unclustered, or quasi-periodic.     

Statistical analysis of strong-motion accelerograms and its application to earthquake early-warning systems

In view of increasing damage due to earthquakes, and the current problems of earthquake prediction, real-time warning of strong ground motion is attracting more interest. In principle, it allows short-term warning of earthquakes while they are occurring. With warning times of up to tens of seconds it is possible to send alerts to potential areas of strong shaking before the arrival of the seismic waves and to mitigate the damage, but only if the seismic source parameters are determined rapidly. The major problem of an early-warning system is the real-time estimation of the earthquake's size.
We investigated digitized strong-motion accelerograms from 244 earthquakes that occurred in North and Central America between 1940 and 1986 to find out whether their initial portions reflected the size of the ongoing earthquake. Applying conventional methods of time-series analyses we calculate appropriate signal parameters and describe their uncertainties in relation to the magnitude and epicentral distance. The study reveals that the magnitude of an earthquake can be predicted from the first second of a single accelerogram within ±1.36 magnitude units. The uncertainty can be reduced to about ±0.5 magnitude units if a larger number (≥8) of accelerograms are available, which requires a dense network of seismic stations in areas of high seismic risk.     

Statistical properties of seismicity of fault zones at different evolutionary stages

We perform a systematic parameter space study of the seismic response of a large fault with different levels of heterogeneity, using a 3-D elastic framework within the continuum limit. The fault is governed by rate-and-state friction and simulations are performed for model realizations with frictional and large scale properties characterized by different ranges of size scales. We use a number of seismicity and stress functions to characterize different types of seismic responses and test the correlation between hypocenter locations and the employed distributions of model parameters. The simulated hypocenters are found to correlate significantly with small L values of the rate-and-state friction. The final sizes of earthquakes are correlated with physical properties at their nucleation sites. The obtained stacked scaling relations are overall self-similar and have good correspondence with properties of natural earthquakes.     

Source investigation of a small event using empirical Green's functions and simulated annealing

We propose a two-step inversion of three-component seismograms that (1) recovers the far-field source time function at each station and (2) estimates the distribution of co-seismic slip on the fault plane for small earthquakes (magnitude 3 to 4). The empirical Green's function (EGF) method consists of finding a small earthquake located near the one we wish to study and then performing a deconvolution to remove the path, site, and instrumental effects from the main-event signal.
The deconvolution between the two earthquakes is an unstable procedure: we have therefore developed a simulated annealing technique to recover a stable and positive source time function (STF) in the time domain at each station with an estimation of uncertainties. Given a good azimuthal coverage, we can obtain information on the directivity effect as well as on the rupture process. We propose an inversion method by simulated annealing using the STF to recover the distribution of slip on the fault plane with a constant rupture-velocity model. This method permits estimation of physical quantities on the fault plane, as well as possible identification of the real fault plane.
We apply this two-step procedure for an event of magnitude 3 recorded in the Gulf of Corinth in August 1991. A nearby event of magnitude 2 provides us with empirical Green's functions for each station. We estimate an active fault area of 0.02 to 0.15 km² and deduce a stress-drop value of 1 to 30 bar and an average slip of 0.1 to 1.6 cm. The selected fault of the main event is in good agreement with the existence of a detachment surface inferred from the tectonics of this half-graben.     

Postglacial rebound and fault instability in Fennoscandia

The best available rebound model is used to investigate the role that postglacial rebound plays in triggering seismicity in Fennoscandia. The salient features of the model include tectonic stress due to spreading at the North Atlantic Ridge, overburden pressure, gravitationally self-consistent ocean loading, and the realistic deglaciation history and compressible earth model which best fits the sea-level and ice data in Fennoscandia. The model predicts the spatio-temporal evolution of the state of stress, the magnitude of fault instability, the timing of the onset of this instability, and the mode of failure of lateglacial and postglacial seismicity. The consistency of the predictions with the observations suggests that postglacial rebound is probably the cause of the large postglacial thrust faults observed in Fennoscandia. The model also predicts a uniform stress field and instability in central Fennoscandia for the present, with thrust faulting as the predicted mode of failure. However, the lack of spatial correlation of the present seismicity with the region of uplift, and the existence of strike-slip and normal modes of current seismicity are inconsistent with this model. Further unmodelled factors such as the presence of high-angle faults in the central region of uplift along the Baltic coast would be required in order to explain the pattern of seismicity today in terms of postglacial rebound stress. The sensitivity of the model predictions to the effects of compressibility, tectonic stress, viscosity and ice model is also investigated. For sites outside the ice margin, it is found that the mode of failure is sensitive to the presence of tectonic stress and that the onset timing is also dependent on compressibility. For sites within the ice margin, the effect of Earth rheology is shown to be small. However, ice load history is shown to have larger effects on the onset time of earthquakes and the magnitude of fault instability.     

Simulations of strong ground motion for earthquakes in the Mexicali–Imperial Valley region

Summary. In this paper computer modelling is used to test simple approximations for simulating strong ground motions for moderate and large earthquakes in the Mexicali–Imperial Valley region. Initially, we represent an earthquake rupture process as a series of many independent small earthquakes distributed in a somewhat random manner in both space and time along the rupture surface. By summing real seismograms for small earthquakes (used as empirical Green's functions), strong ground motions at specific sites near a fault are calculated. Alternatively, theoretical Green's functions that include frequencies up to 20 Hz are used in essentially similar simulations. The model uses random numbers to emulate some of the non-deterministic irregularities associated with real earthquakes, due either to complexities in the rupture process itself and/or strong variations in the material properties of the medium. Simulations of the 1980 June 9 Victoria, Baja California earthquake ( M _L= 6.1) approximately agree with the duration of shaking, the maximum ground acceleration, and the frequency content of strong ground motion records obtained at distances of up to 35 km for this moderate earthquake. In the initial stages of modelling we do not introduce any scaling of spectral shape with magnitude, in order to see at what stage the data require it. Surprisingly, such scaling is not critical in going from M = 4–5 events to the M = 6.1 Victoria earthquake. However, it is clearly required by the El Centro accelerogram for the Imperial Valley 1940 earthquake, which had a much higher moment ( Ms ∼ 7). We derive the spectral modification function for this event. The resulting model for this magnitude ∼ 7 earthquake is then used to predict the ground motions at short distances from the fault. Predicted peak horizontal accelerations for the M ∼ 7 event are about 25–50 per cent higher than those observed for the M = 6.1 Victoria event.     

Amplification of ground motion and waveform complexity in fault zones: examples from the San Andreas and Calaveras Faults

Summary. P -wave seismograms at ranges less than 10 km are synthesized by asymptotic ray theory and by summation of Gaussian beams for point sources located in a low-velocity wedge surrounding a fault. The computations are performed using models of the wedge inferred from the analysis of reflection and refraction experiments across the San Andreas and Hayward-Calaveras faults. Calculations in these models show that the 10–20Hz vertical displacements of earthquakes located at 3–10km depth are amplified by up to an order of magnitude in a 1–2km wide region centred on the fault trace compared to displacements predicted by laterally homogeneous models of the crust. This amplification is not cancelled by high attentuation in the fault zone and compensates for the reduction in amplitudes directly above the source predicted from the radiation pattern of a strike-slip earthquake. Depending on the source depth of the earthquake and the structure and velocity contrast of the wedge, multiple triplications in the travel-time curve of direct P - and S -waves will occur at stations in the fault zone. A wedge model successfully predicts the triplications observed in the P waveforms of aftershocks of the Coyote Lake earthquake recorded in the fault zone, showing that body waves from microearthquakes can be used to determine the three-dimensional velocity structure of the fault zone. The amplification, waveform complexity, and distortion of ray paths introduced by the low- velocity wedge suggest that its effects should be included in the interpretation of strong ground motions and travel times observed in the fault zone. For realistic models of the wedge, asymptotically approximate methods of calculating the body waveforms are strictly valid for frequencies greater than 20Hz. Numerical methods may be necessary to calculate accurately the wavefield at lower frequencies.