Double-sided subduction with contrasting polarities beneath the Pamir-Hindu Kush: Evidence from focal mechanism solutions and stress field inversion

The Pamir-Hindu Kush region at the western end of the Himalayan-Tibet orogen is one of the most active regions on the globe with strong seismicity and deformation and provides a window to evaluate continental collision linked to two intra-continental subduction zones with different polarities. The seismicity and seismic tomography data show a steep northward subducting slab beneath the Hindu Kush and southward subducting slab under the Pamir. Here, we collect seismic catalogue with 3988 earthquake events to compute seismicity images and waveform data from 926 earthquake events to invert focal mechanism solutions and stress field with a view to characterize the subducting slabs under the Pamir-Hindu Kush region. Our results define two distinct seismic zones: a steep one beneath the Hindu Kush and a broad one beneath the Pamir. Deep and intermediate-depth earthquakes are mainly distributed in the Hindu Kush region which is controlled by thrust faulting, whereas the Pamir is dominated by strike-slip stress regime with shallow and intermediate-depth earthquakes. The area where the maximum principal stress axis is vertical in the southern Pamir corresponds to the location of a high-conductivity low-velocity region that contributes to the seismogenic processes in this region. We interpret the two distinct seismic zones to represent a double-sided subduction system where the Hindu Kush zone represents the northward subduction of the Indian plate, and the Pamir zone shows southward subduction of the Eurasian plate. A transition fault is inferred in the region between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir which regulates the opposing directions of motion of the Indian and Eurasian plates.     

Seismicity and tectonics of southern Central America and adjacent regions with special attention to the surroundings of Panama

Ten new focal mechanisms are derived for earthquakes in southern Central America and its adjacent regions. These are combined with a study of seismicity and data of previous workers to delineate the position and nature of the plate boundaries in this complex region.The Middle America subduction zone may be divided into four or five distinct seismic segments. The plate boundary between North America and the Caribbean near the trench might be located more towards the south than previously suspected. Subduction has basically stopped south of the underthrusting Cocos Ridge. There is not much evidence for a seismically active strike-slip fault south of Panama, but its existence cannot be ruled out. More activity reveals the zone north of Panama which is identified as a subduction zone with normal fault events. Shallow seismicity induced by the interaction of the Nazca plate extends from the Colombia-Panama border south along the Pacific coast to meet a high-angle continental thrust fault system. Subduction with a pronounced slab starts only south of that point near a hot region which offsets the seismic trend at the trench. The Carnegie Ridge and/or the change of direction of subduction in Ecuador produce a highly active zone of seismicity mainly at the depth of 200 km. The area in the Pacific displays a termination of activity at a propagating rift west of the Galapagos Islands. The main eastern boundary of the Cocos plate, the Panama Fracture Zone, is offset towards the west at the southern end of the Malpelo Ridge. Its northern end consists of two active branches as defined by large earthquakes. A strike-slip mechanism near the southeastern flank of the Cocos Ridge was previously believed to be the site of an extended fracture zone. This paper proposes submarine volcanic activity as an alternative explanation.     

Characteristics of ring seismicity in different depth ranges before large and great earthquakes in the Sumatra region

Characteristics of the seismicity in depth ranges 0–33 and 34–70 km before ten large and great (M _w = 7.0−9.0) earthquakes of 2000–2008 in the Sumatra region are studied, as are those in the seismic gap zones where no large earthquakes have occurred since at least 1935. Ring seismicity structures are revealed in both depth ranges. It is shown that the epicenters of the main seismic events lie, as a rule, close to regions of overlap or in close proximity to “shallow” and “deep” rings. Correlation dependences of ring sizes and threshold earthquakes magnitudes on energy of the main seismic event in the ring seismicity regions are obtained. Identification of ring structures in the seismic gap zones (in the regions of Central and South Sumatra) suggests active processes of large earthquake preparation proceed in the region. The probable magnitudes of imminent seismic events are estimated from the data on the seismicity ring sizes.     

Seismicity and structural investigations of the Romanian Vrancea Region: Evidence for azimuthal variations of p-wave velocity and poisson's ratio

A study of the shallow and intermediate depth seismicity of the Romanian Vrancea region in the period 1964–1981 has been performed. The seismic events have been relocated by a standard location procedure using a regional velocity model. From the temporal and spatial distribution of the seismic activity, aspects of the seismicity before the large March 4, 1977 earthquake are treated, in particular the seismic gap in space and time prior to this event, found by Mârze (1979), which is critically discussed and revised. The concept of the precursor time/magnitude relationships of different authors is applied and its validity to the Vrancea region assessed. The hypocentral distribution shows that the intermediate depth seismic activity is confined to a small volume with dimensions of only some tens of kilometers. The results are interpreted in terms of the tectonics of the region. From an analysis of the travel-time residuals at different local stations, evidence for lateral velocity heterogeneities beneath the region is obtained e.g. a high velocity zone southeastwards of the Carpathian chain. Finally mean ratios, (i.e. Poisson's ratios), for various stations are calculated from P- and S-wave travel times. They show azimuthal variations of up to 6% for stations within the area where the intermediate seismic activity occurs in comparison with the station Focsani, situated eastwards in the Carpathian foredeeps. All these results are compatible with the plate tectonic concept for the Vrancea region, that is the subduction of an oceanic lithospheric slab under the Carpathian mountain arc, giving rise to such a highly active seismic zone.     

东南亚地震活动与b 值的时空分布特征

东南亚地区是“21世纪海上丝绸之路”（以下简称“海洋丝路”）的重要组成部分,该区历史上曾发生十余次巨大地震,地震及其次生地质灾害是威胁东南亚地区经济社会发展和国际合作的主要自然灾害。系统梳理该区地震活动的时空分布特征及评估未来灾害风险格局,对于推进“一带一路”倡议实施及区域经济社会可持续发展具有重要意义。文章基于东南亚地区1900年以来M≥5地震的时空分布统计分析和地震b值计算,揭示出该区的地震活动在时间上表现出活跃期与平静期交替变化的特征;空间上表现出明显的聚集效应,成丛性强且主要集中在5个地震统计区内,其中印尼—马来多岛弧盆系地震区和菲律宾群岛地震区的地震活动最为活跃。总体而言,东南亚5个地震区的b值偏低,在0.42~0.91之间。该区内的地震b值也存在时空差异,受大地震事件、俯冲带年龄、活动断裂带和震源深度等众多因素影响,但主控因素在不同区域有所不同。地震b值时空变化特征对区域地震活动预测具有启示作用。上述认识为推进“海洋丝路”工程建设和“一带一路”防灾减灾对策提供了科学支撑。     

Seismicity of the Hellenic subduction zone in the area of western and central Crete observed by temporary local seismic networks

Temporary local seismic networks were installed in western Crete, in central Crete, and on the island Gavdos south of western Crete, respectively, in order to image shallow seismically active zones of the Hellenic subduction zone.More than 4000 events in the magnitude range between −0.5 and 4.8 were detected and localized. The resulting three-dimensional hypocenter distribution allows the localization of seismically active zones in the area of western and central Crete from the Mediterranean Ridge to the Cretan Sea. Furthermore, a three-dimensional structural model of the studied region was compiled based on results of wide-angle seismics, surface wave analysis and receiver function studies. The comparison of the hypocenter distribution and the structure has allowed intraplate and interplate seismicity to be distinguished.High interplate seismicity along the interface between the subducting African lithosphere and the Aegean lithosphere was found south of western Crete where the interface is located at about 20 to 40 km depth. An offset between the southern border of the Aegean lithosphere and the southern border of active interplate seismicity is observed. In the area of Crete, the offset varies laterally along the Hellenic arc between about 50 and 70 km.A southwards dipping zone of high seismicity within the Aegean lithosphere is found south of central Crete in the region of the Ptolemy trench. It reaches from the interface between the plates at about 30 km depth towards the surface. In comparison, the Aegean lithosphere south of western Crete is seismically much less active including the region of the Ionian trench. Intraplate seismicity within the Aegean plate beneath Crete and north of Crete is confined to the upper about 20 km. Between 20 and 40 km depth beneath Crete, the Aegean lithosphere appears to be seismically inactive. In western Crete, the southern and western borders of this aseismic zone correlate strongly with the coastline of Crete.     

分形几何理论在地震活动性研究中的应用

在地震活动性区划、构造活动性区划及稳定性区划中分别应用了模糊学评判及分形几何评判。两种方法相比较，分形几何理论方法统计数据少，计算简便，而且不受人为经验的影响（如模糊数学方法中的专家打分，因子评判矩阵的确定），因此也更准确。本文在项目研究的基础上，简要地介绍了分形几何理论在地震活动性研究中的运用，以及其在广西沿海地区及邻区地震活动性、地震带的分段及潜在震源区的划分方面运用成果。     

Late Cretaceous-Paleogene deepwater basin of North Afghanistan and the Central Pamirs: Issue of Hindu Kush earthquakes

The within-Iranian backarc basins, including the largest Sebzawar Basin, opened in the Mid-Cretaceous. Spreading in this basin was completed by the end of the Cretaceous. The basin closed in the Eocene with the formation of subduction zones and volcanic-plutonic belts. Data on North Afghanistan and the Central Pamirs have allowed us to reconstruct the eastern continuation of the Sebzawar Basin up to the west of the Central Pamirs. No fragments of oceanic crust are retained in Afghanistan and the Pamirs, but by analogy with the Sebzawar Basin, thick Paleogene flysch sequences and volcanic-plutonic complexes indicate setting of the active margin and subduction. It is suggested that the belt of mantle seismicity that extends for 550 km to the south of the Central Pamirs is related to the plunging and deformation of the lithosphere once underlying the Cretaceous-Paleogene basin. The extremely vigorous seismicity of the Hindu Kush megasource at the western termination of the seismic belt is caused by a number of specific tectonic features that predetermined the early onset of plunging of the subducted sheet (slab). In the megasource, the slab sank to a depth of 300 km and became vertical; its active deformation has proceeded up to the present. In the eastern part of the seismic belt, the slab started to plunge much later and therefore has retained a gentle slope, so that the depth of the hypocenters is shallower (down to 200 km), and earthquakes are less strong.     

Seismicity distribution in the vicinity of the Chile Triple Junction,Aysén Region,southern Chile

The Aysén Region, southern Chile, is the area located at the southern end of the Nazca-South America subduction zone, to the east of the Chile Triple Junction. This region has historically presented low levels of seismicity mostly related to volcanism. Nonetheless, a seismic sequence occurred in 2007, related to the reactivation of the strike-slip Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault System (LOFS), confirmed that this region is not exempt from major seismic activity M ∼ 7. Here we present results from background local seismicity of two years (2004–2005) preceding the sequence of 2007. Event magnitudes range between 0.5 and 3.4 M_L and hypocenters occur at shallow depths, mostly within the upper 10 km of crust, in the overriding South American plate. No events were detected in the area locus of the 2007 sequence, and the Wadati–Benioff (WB) plane is not observable given the lack of subduction inter-plate seismicity in the area. A third of the seismicity is related to Hudson volcano activity, and sparse crustal events can be spatially associated with the trace of the Liquiñe-Ofqui fault, showing the largest detected magnitudes, in particular at the place where the two main branches of the LOFS meet. Other minor sources of seismicity correspond to glacial calving in the terminal zones of glaciers and mining explosions.     

The Vrancea seismic zone and its analogue in the Banda Arc, eastern Indonesia

It is now widely, although not universally, accepted that the Carpathian orogen marks the site of an arc–continent collision that followed the subduction of a now vanished small ocean basin. Seismic tomography has defined a high-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle similar to those associated with subduction zones worldwide. There is, however, no recognisable Wadati–Benioff Zone (WBZ), and intermediate-depth seismicity is confined to a relatively small, roughly cylindrical and vertically elongated region beneath the extreme southeastern corner of the mountain chain. There is no consensus in the published studies as to the origin of this ‘Vrancea Zone’.

The Banda Sea region of eastern Indonesia has sometimes been cited as an analogue for the Pannonian/Transylvanian basin and the enclosing Carpathian orocline, but at first sight the patterns of seismicity appear very different. Intermediate depth seismic activity defines a subducted slab that dips north, south and west beneath the Banda Sea, a configuration explained as a consequence of the rapid expansion of the sea during roll-back subduction. If the similar scenario proposed for the Carpathians is correct, then it is the absence of a Carpathian WBZ that is actually anomalous. Closer examination of Banda Arc seismicity shows that it can be divided into two parts, these being a scoop-shaped WBZ and an adjacent ‘Damar Zone’ of much more intense intermediate-depth activity. At its eastern end the Damar Zone merges with the WBZ, but in the west there is evidence for separation from it. A plausible explanation of this pattern is that a lower layer of the downgoing slab is peeling away from the remainder.

The Banda/Australia collision is now almost complete and the activity in the WBZ proper can be expected to decrease. Damar Zone activity, on the other hand, may persist for a much longer period, migrating towards the foreland as the detaching layer separates from the remainder of the subducted lithosphere. In a few million years the seismicity of the Banda region could well resemble the present day seismicity of the Carpathian orogen.     

Three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure beneath the Indonesian region

We present the P-wave seismic tomography image of the mantle to a depth of 1200 km beneath the Indonesian region. The inversion method is applied to a dataset of 118,203 P-wave travel times of local and teleseismic events taken from ISC bulletins. Although the resolution is sufficient for detailed discussion in only a limited part of the study region, the results clarify the general tectonic framework in this region and indicate a possible remnant seismic slab in the lower mantle.

Structures beneath the Philippine Islands and the Molucca Sea region are well resolved and high-velocity zones corresponding to the slabs of the Molucca Sea and Philippine Sea plates are well delineated. Seismic zones beneath the Manila, Negros and Cotabato trenches are characterized by high-velocity anomalies, although shallow structures were not resolved. The Molucca Sea collision zone and volcanic zones of the Sangihe and Philippine arcs are dominated by low-velocity anomalies. The Philippine Sea slab subducts beneath the Philippine Islands at least to a depth of 200 km and may reach depths of 450 km. The southern end of the slab extends at least to about 6°N near southern Mindanao. In the south, the two opposing subducting slabs of the Molucca Sea plate are clearly defined by the two opposing high-velocity zones. The eastward dipping slab can be traced about 400 km beneath the Halmahera arc and may extend as far north as about 5°N. Unfortunately, resolution is not sufficient to reveal detailed structures at the boundary region between the Halmahera and Philippine Sea slabs. The westward dipping slab may subduct to the lower mantle although its extent at depth is not well resolved. This slab trends N-S from about 10°N in the Philippine Islands to northern Sulawesi. A NE-SW-trending high-velocity zone is found in the lower mantle beneath the Molucca Sea region. This high-velocity zone may represent a remnant of the former subduction zone which formed the Sulawesi arc during the Miocene.

The blocks along the Sunda and Banda arcs are less well resolved than those in the Philippine Islands and the Molucca Sea region. Nevertheless, overall structures can be inferred. The bowl-shaped distribution of the seismicity of the Banda arc is clearly defined by a horseshoe-shaped high-velocity zone. The tomographic image shows that the Indian oceanic slab subducts to a depth deeper than 300 km i.e., deeper than its seismicity, beneath Andaman Islands and Sumatra and may be discontinuous in northern Sumatra. Along southern Sumatra, Java and the islands to the east, the slab appears to be continuous and can be traced down to at least a depth of the deepest seismicity, where it appears to penetrate into the lower mantle.     

Improved earthquake locations in the Koyna-Warna seismic zone

In estimating the likelihood of an earthquake hazard for a seismically active region, information on the geometry of the potential source is important in quantifying the seismic hazard. The damage from an earthquake varies spatially and is governed by the fault geometry and lithology. As earthquake damage is amplified by guided seismic waves along fault zones, it is important to delineate the disposition of the fault zones by precisely determined hypocentral parameters. We used the double difference (DD) algorithm to relocate earthquakes in the Koyna-Warna seismic zone (KWSZ) region, with the P- and S-wave catalog data from relative arrival time pairs constituting the input. A significant improvement in the hypocentral estimates was achieved, with the epicentral errors <30 m and focal depth errors <75 m i.e. errors have been significantly reduced by an order of magnitude from the parameters determined by HYPO71. The earthquake activity defines three different fault segments. The seismogenic volume is shallower in the south by 3 km, with seismicity in the north extending to a depth of 11 km while in the south the deepest seismicity observed is at a depth of 8 km. By resolving the structure of seismicity in greater detail, we address the salient issues related to the seismotectonics of this region.     

Deep roots of seismotectonics of the Far East: The Amur River and Primorye zones

The role of the lateral structure of the lithospheric mantle in the seismotectonics and seismicity of the southern part of the Russian Far East has been investigated. The positions of the epicenters of all the major earthquakes in Sakhalin (M ≥ 6.0), as well as in the Amur region and the Primorye zones (M ≥ 5.0), are defined by the boundaries of the Anyui block of highly ferruginous mantle, which lies at the base of the Sikhote-Alin area. Three cycles of large earthquakes are recognized in the region: the end of the 19th-beginning of the 20th century, the mid-20th century, and end of the 20th-beginning of the 21st century. In the seismic zone of the Amur region (hereafter, the Amur seismic zone), the epicenters of the large earthquakes in each cycle migrate from the SW to NE along the Tan-Lu fault megasystem at a rate of 30–60 km/yr. The specific features of the seismicity of the region are explained by the repeated arrival of strain waves from the west. The waves propagate in the upper part of the mantle and provoke the activation of the deep structure of the region. The detailed analysis of the earthquakes in the Sikhote-Alin area (M ≥ 4.0) in 1973–2009 confirmed the clockwise tectonic rotation of the mantle block. The characteristics of the Primorye zone of deep-focus seismicity at the Russia-China boundary are stated. Since 1973, 13 earthquakes with M ≥ 6.0 have been recorded in the zone at a depth of 300–500 km. This number of earthquakes is at least twice as many as the number of large deep-focus earthquakes elsewhere in the Sea of Japan-Sea of Okhotsk transition zone. The unique genesis of the Primorye seismic zone is related to the additional compression in the seismofocal area due to the creeping of the Anyui mantle block onto the subduction zone during its rotation. The geodynamic implications of the seismotectonic analysis are examined, and the necessity of division of the Amur plate into three geodynamically independent lithospheric blocks is substantiated.     

Seismotectonic regionalization of the Red Sea area and its application to seismic risk analysis

A seismological evaluation of the Red Sea margin is presented in this contribution based on the concept of seismotectonic regionalization. The geology and the tectonic structure are critically reviewed to define regions of homogeneous seismicity in the study area, and available seismicity data are implemented to estimate the seismic parameters of the region. The results of the study are applied to evaluate the seismic hazard of an offshore platform site.     

Chaotic fault interactions: implications for seismic hazard in New Zealand

A chaotic fault interaction model previously developed for the San Andreas Fault System and the Nankai Trough (examples of transform fault and subduction dominated tectonic regimes, respectively) is here applied to the large-event seismicity in the New Zealand region, where the interacting blocks of the model are taken to be those parts of the Indo-Australian plate boundary that are, from north-east to southwest, subduction dominated, ‘transpressional’, and transform-fault dominated. The model suggests a shorter term recurrence of large events than do simple seismic cycle approaches.     

Seismotectonics of the Papua New Guinea—Solomon Islands region

Earthquakes for the period 1964–1973 are relocated by the method of Joint Hypocenter Determination in order better to resolve the configuration and the structure of the New Guinea—New Britain—Solomon Islands region. Focal mechanism solutions are integrated with the seismicity and interpreted closely with it. A zone of subduction exists beneath New Britain and the Solomon Islands, a zone of left-lateral strike-slip movement extends from New Ireland to New Guinea. The zone of seismicity in northern New Guinea has developed as a result of a continent—island-arc collision in late Oligocene—Miocene times and does not exhibit a well-developed inclined seismic zone. It is proposed that plate tectonics theory does not apply rigorously, but slip-line field theory allows the presentation of a new geodynamic model for this region.     

Subduction of the Woodlark Basin at New Britain Trench, Solomon Islands region

The Woodlark Basin, located south of the Solomon Islands arc region, is a young (5 Ma) oceanic basin that subducts beneath the New Britain Trench. This region is one of only a few subduction zones in the world where it is possible to study a young plate subduction of several Ma. To obtain the image of the subducting slab at the western side of the Woodlark Basin, a 40-day Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) survey was conducted in 1998 to detect the micro-seismic activity. It was the first time such a survey had been performed in this location and over 600 hypocenters were located. The seismic activity is concentrated at the 10–60 km depth range along the plate boundary. The upper limit just about coincides with the leading edge of the accretionary wedge. The upper limit boundary was identified as the up-dip limit of the seismogenic zone, whereas the down-dip limit of the seismogenic zone was difficult to define. The dip angle of the plate at the high seismicity zone was found to average about 30°. Using the Cascadia subduction zone for comparison, which is a typical example of a young plate subduction, suggests that the subduction of the Woodlark Basin was differentiated by a high dip angle and rather landward location of the seismic front from the trench axis (30 km landward from the trench axis). Furthermore, as pointed out by previous researchers, the convergent margin of the Solomon Islands region is imposed with a high stress state, probably due to the collision of the Ontong Java Plateau and a rather rapid convergence rate (10 cm/year). The results of the high angle plate subduction and inner crust earthquakes beneath the Shortland Basin strongly support the high stress state. The collision of the Ontong Java Plateau, the relatively rapid convergence rate, and moderately cold slab as evidenced by low heat flow, rather than the plate age, may be dominantly responsible for the geometry of the seismogenic zone in the western part of the Woodlark Basin subduction zone.     

Statistical Models of the Seismicity of the Vrancea Region, Romania

A parameterization derived from the Weibull distribution is used to model the seismic activity of the Vrancea region.The analysis of 498 crustal earthquakes with local magnitudes greater than 2.0, and 1377 subcrustal events with local magnitudes greater than 2.5 emphasizes that the shallow sequences show a strong clustering tendency, while the intermediate depth mainshock sequences are modeled by a completely random pattern in space and time. These results are not influenced by the magnitude threshold and the width of the time window.The difference between the seismicity patterns in the crust and in the subcrustal zone correlates with the difference between the stress field within these two regions.     

A review of the seismicity and seismotectonics of Delhi and adjoining areas

Understanding of seismicity and seismotectonics of Delhi and adjoining areas is essential as these areas lie in the seismic zone IV and are geologically confined to the Delhi Fold Belt (DFB), juxtaposed to the Himalayan Frontal Thrust Fold Belt. Owing to the set-up, seismicity in this area is ascribed to the Himalayan Thrust System and activation of DFB Fault Systems. Considerably improved instrumental seismic monitoring in this area and data analysis had resolved three regions of pronounced seismicity that lie close to Sonepat, Rohtak and western part of the NCT Delhi, attributed to activation of various portions of the fault systems of the DFB. Based on seismic telemetry network data, the seismicity pattern analysis revealed that the Mahendragarh Dehradun Sub-Surface Fault (MDSSF) and Delhi Sargodha Ridge (DSR) are the two major zones of structural importance for the nucleation of seismicity in this region. These revelations were corroborated with the fault plane solution of the earthquakes. The dominant mechanism in nucleation of seismicity in DFB is the thrust with minor strike slip. The seismicity and seismotectonics of Delhi and adjoining areas endemic to activation of DFB is reviewed and presented in this paper.     

The Gibraltar Arc seismogenic zone (part 1): Constraints on a shallow east dipping fault plane source for the 1755 Lisbon earthquake provided by seismic data, gravity and thermal modeling

The Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 with an estimated magnitude of 8.5–9.0 is the most destructive earthquake in European history, yet the source region remains enigmatic. Recent geophysical data provide compelling evidence for an active east dipping subduction zone beneath the nearby Gibraltar Arc. Marine seismic data in the Gulf of Cadiz image active thrust faults in an accretionary wedge, above an east dipping decollement and an eastward dipping basement. Tomographic and other data support subduction and rollback of a narrow slab of oceanic lithosphere beneath the westward advancing Gibraltar block.Although, no instrumentally recorded seismicity has been documented for the subduction interface, we propose the hypothesis that this shallow east dipping fault plane is locked and capable of generating great earthquakes (like the Nankai or Cascadia seismogenic zones). We further propose this east dipping fault plane to be a candidate source for the Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755. In this paper we use all available geophysical data on the deep structure of the Gulf of Cadiz–Gibraltar region for the purpose of constraining the 3-D geometry of this potentially seismogenic fault plane. To this end, we use new depth processed seismic data, have interpreted all available published and unpublished time sections, examine the distribution of hypocenters and perform 2-D gravity modeling. Finally, a finite-element model of the forearc thermal structure is constructed to determine the temperature distribution along the fault interface and thus the thermally predicted updip and downdip limits of the seismogenic zone.