A discussion on Corioli force effect and aflershock activity tendency of the M=8.1 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake on Nov.14, 2001

Following the theory and definition of the Corioli force in physics, the Corioli force at the site of the M=8.1 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake on November 14, 2001, is examined in this paper on the basis of a statistical research on relationship between the Corioli force effect and the maximum attershock magnitude of 20 earth-quakes with M≥7.5 in Chinese mainland, and then the variation tendency of attershock activity of the M=8.1 earthquake is discussed. The result shows: a) Analyzing the Corioli force effect is an effective method to predict maximum attershock magnitude of large earthquakes in Chinese mainland. For the sinistral slip fault and the reverse fault with its hanging wall moving toward the right side oftbe cross-focus meridian plane, their Corioli force pulls the two fault walls apart, decreasing frictional resistance on fault plane during the fault movement and releasing elastic energy of the mainshock fully, so the maximum magnitude of aftershocks would be low. For the dextral slip fault, its Corioli force presses the two walls against each other and increases the frictional resistance on fault plane, prohibiting energy release of the mainshock, so the maximum magnitude of attershocks would be high.b) The fault of the M--8. l Kunlun Mountain earthquake on Nov. 14, 2001 is essentially a sinistral strike-slip fault,and the Corioli force pulled the two fault walls apart. Magnitude of the induced stress is about 0.06 MPa. Alter a comparison analysis, we suggest that the attershock activity level will not be high in the late period of this earth-quake sequence, and the maximum magnitude of the whole aftershocks sequence is estimated to be about 6.0.     

科里奥利力效应与昆仑山口西8.1级地震后两侧地震活动的可能关系

根据物理学中科里奥利力原理, 分析了以走滑断层为主的大地震产生的科里奥利力对地震断层两侧邻近地区地震活动的可能影响。结果表明, 在昆仑山口西8.1级地震后东昆仑断裂带南北两侧邻近地区较大地震一般发生在8.1级地震产生的科里奥利力引起的库仑破裂应力增加地区。     

有关科里奥利力效应与昆仑山口西8.1级地震余震活动趋势的讨论s

根据物理学中的科里奥利力定义和计算原理,在对中国大陆20次7.5级以上特大地震余震强度与科里奥利力效应关系的统计研究基础上,重点对2001年11月14日昆仑山口西8.1级地震时所受到的科里奥利力情况进行了研究,并以此来讨论该地震后期的余震活动趋势．结果表明: ① 利用科里奥利力效应预测中国大陆特大地震的余震强度是一个有效的方法．对于左旋走滑断层和上盘错动方向通过震源子午面右侧（向北看）的逆断层,其科里奥利力效应是使断层两盘相互拉离,它降低了断层错动时断层面上的摩擦阻力,地震能量主要在主震时充分释放,故余震强度小;对于右旋走滑断层,其科里奥利力效应是使断层两盘相互挤压,它增加了断层错动时断层面上的摩擦阻力,不利于主震能量的充分释放,所以余震强度大;② 2001年11月14日昆仑山口西8.1级地震的发震断层错动以左旋走滑为主,受到的科里奥利力使断层两盘相互拉离,大小约为0.06 MPa．经过类比分析后认为,该地震后期的余震活动水平不会太高,整个序列的最大余震震级估计为6级左右．     

关于2001年11月14日昆仑山口西地震震级的调查

2001年昆仑山口西地震之后,相当多的研究文章使用了震级8.1的数据,但也有人对该震级表示怀疑.为了澄清数据来源,本文整理了国内外主要的地震目录网站,以及已有文章对该地震震级的使用情况,给出了不同的结果.最终表明,震级8.1的说法来自于国内大震速报目录.     

Horizontal crustal movement in Chinese mainland before and after the great Kunlun Mountain M=8.1 earthquake in 2001

Introduction The great Kunlun Mountain earthquake occurred on November 14, 2001 on the border be-tween Xinjiang and Qinghai in west China (36.2N, 90.9E). It was the largest earthquake oc-curred in Chinese mainland in the last 50 years. The Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) established in 1998 mainly for the purpose of earthquake prediction with only 25 fiducial stations for continuous GPS observations, has recorded the precious information of the crustal movement …     

Source process of the 14 November 2001 western Kunlun Mountain M_S=8.1 earth-quake

Introduction On November 14, 2001, a great earthquake occurred in the western Kunlun Mountain area(Figure 1). The original time is 09h26min10.0s (UTC); the hypocentral location is 35.95°N,90.54°E; focal depth is 10 km from USGS National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC);MS=8.1 from China Seismic Network and Mw=7.8 from Harvard and Earthquake Research Insti-tute (ERI), University of Tokyo. This earthquake, known as the western Kunlun Mountain earth-quake, is an extraord…     

Study on rupture zone of the M=8.1 Kunlun Mountain earthquake using fault-zone trapped waves

Introduction The study on deep crustal faults has been one of the most vigorous subjects in seismology. In the past, 3-D deep seismic sounding and 3-D seismic tomography were usually used for this pur-pose. But it is difficult to obtain the fine structures of the faults in deep crust by these methods. Recently, seismologists in the world pay more attention to the fault zone trapped waves. Since the fault-zone trapped waves arise from coherent multiple reflections at two boundaries of the fau…     

2001年昆仑山口西8.1级大震预报的再讨论

由立交模式、静中动判据和高山峰指标讨论了2001年昆仑山口西8．1级大震的地点骤报。由74年周期性、三性法和倍九律讨论了这个8．1级大震的时间预报。倍九律包括热红外异常、6级地震活动和K＝8的大磁暴在震前出现的倍九天时间特征。     

Seismicity anomalies before the great earthquake of M_S=8.1 in the Kunlun Pass and its significance to earthquake prediction

Introduction The MS=8.1 earthquake occurred in west of the Kunlun Pass on November 14, 2001. It is the greatest earthquake occurred in China since the last half of the century and is an important event in recent seismic history of China. Some specialists consider that the earthquake occurred in the area where the earthquake monitoring capability is lowest in Chinese mainland; no striking precursory seismicity was found. The study on the precursory seismicity before the earthquake has not b…     

Estimation of the stress levels in the focal region before and after the 2001 M=8.1 Western Kunlun Mountain Pass earth-quake

Introduction A great earthquake of M=8.1 occurred at 17h26min14.7s (Beijing time) on November 14, 2001 on the eastern Kunlun fault, near Bukadaban mountain peak with an elevation of about 6 866 m in the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau of western China. The micro-epicenter is at a site of 36.2°N, 90.9°E, and the macro-epicenter is at a site of 35.6°N, 94.1° E, about 300 km west to the Kunlun Mountain Pass.This event is the largest one since 1951 in China, and yet the first su-per-st…     

2001年11月14日昆仑山口西M 8.1地震前的缓慢地震事件

2001年11月14日昆仑山口西M8．1地震前发生了缓慢运动事件，新疆地震台网记录分析结果表明，这次事件在大震前3．5天开始出现，长周期前驱波持续约47小时，波列呈现规则的正弦波形，视周期约为8．8秒。笔者认为，该慢地震事件是M8．1大震前中昆仑断裂临震预滑动引起的。事实表明，慢地震的观测与研究对深入了解断层失稳过程和实现地震短临预报具有重大意义，同时也显示了宽频带数字地震台网的优越性。     

Estimation of the stress levels in the focal region before and after the 2001 M =8.1 Western Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake

A method estimating the stress level in the focal region of an earthquake is proposed here. Taking the 2001 M=8.1 Western Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake as an example, we estimate its stress level in the focal region before and after it by this method. The results show that the stress level in the focal region just prior to the initiation of this event is approximately 6.3–8 MPa, and about 5–6.7 MPa remained in the focal region after its occurrence. The stress in the focal region decreased by roughly twenty percent after this event. Contribution No. 05FE3026, Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration.     

Characteristics of Collapses Caused by the M 8.1 Earthquake West of the Kunlun Mountains Pass

An M 8.1 earthquake that occurred west of the Kunlun Mountains Pass has caused more than 20 collapse bodies or zones, which are mainly distributed near the surface seismic rupture zone, west of Hoh Sai Lake. The collapses are of four types, bedrock, soil mass and ice mass collapses and avalanches. The spatial distribution and the characteristics of development of the collapses are analyzed in the paper. Comparised with those caused by other earthquakes, the collapses are smaller in scale. In addition to the lithological characteristics of the crustal media, topographic, geomorphic and climatic factors, weaker seismic ground motion is an important cause for formation of the smaller-scale collapses. The long surface rupture zone and weaker ground motion are important features of the seismic rupture, which may be related to the structure of the preexisting fault.     

Preliminary analysis on characteristics of coseismic deformation associated with M_S=8.1 western Kunlunshan Pass earthquake in 2001

IntroductionOnNovember14,2001,aMS=8.1earthquakeoccurredonthewestofKunlunshanPassintheborderareaofQinghaiandXinjiang,whichwasthestrongestearthquakeinChinesemainlandsincetheMS=8.0earthquakeoccurredinDangxiongdistrictofXizangAutonomousRegiononNovember18,1951.TheearthquakeoccurredontheEasternKunlunTectonicZone,whichwasapalaeoplatejunctionzoneinsideTibetanPlateau.ItdividedTibetanPlateauintothesouthandnorthparts.ThezoneplayedaveryimportantroleinTibetanPlateausdeformationprocessanddynamicev…     

The Frozen Soils and Devastating Characteristics of West Kunlun Mountains Pass Ms 8.1 Earthquake Area in 2001

The investigation on damages to frozen soil sites during the West Kunlun Mountains Pass earthquake with Ms 8.1 in 2001 shows that the frozen soil in the seismic area is composed mainly of moraine, alluvial deposit, diluvial deposit and lacustrine deposit with the depth varying greatly along the earthquake rupture zone. The deformation and rupture of frozen soil sites are mainly in the form of coseismic fracture zones caused by tectonic motion and fissures,liquefaction, seismic subsidence and collapse resulting from ground motion. The earthquake fracture zones on the surface are main brittle deformations, which, under the effect of sinlstral strike-slip movement, are represented by shear fissures, tensional cracks and compressive bulges. The distribution and configuration patterns of deformation and rupture such as fissures, liquefaction, seismic subsidence and landslides are all related to the ambient rock and soil conditions of the earthquake area. The distribution of earthquake damage is characterized by large-scale rupture zones, rapid intensity attenuation along the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Highway, where buildings distribute and predominant effect of rock and soil conditions.     

A discussion on corioli force effect and aftershock activity tendency of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>=8.1 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake on Nov. 14, 2001

Following the theory and definition of the Corioli force in physics, the Corioli force at the site of the M=8.1 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake on November 14, 2001, is examined in this paper on the basis of a statistical research on relationship between the Corioli force effect and the maximum aftershock magnitude of 20 earthquakes with M≥7.5 in Chinese mainland, and then the variation tendency of aftershock activity of the M=8.1 earthquake is discussed. The result shows: a) Analyzing the Corioli force effect is an effective method to predict maximum aftershock magnitude of large earthquakes in Chinese mainland. For the sinistral slip fault and the reverse fault with its hanging wall moving toward the right side of the cross-focus meridian plane, their Corioli force pulls the two fault walls apart, decreasing frictional resistance on fault plane during the fault movement and releasing elastic energy of the mainshock fully, so the maximum magnitude of aftershocks would be low. For the dextral slip fault, its Corioli force presses the two walls against each other and increases the frictional resistance on fault plane, prohibiting energy release of the mainshock, so the maximum magnitude of aftershocks would be high. b) The fault of the M=8.1 Kunlun Mountain earthquake on Nov. 14, 2001 is essentially a sinistral strike-slip fault, and the Corioli force pulled the two fault walls apart. Magnitude of the induced stress is about 0.06 MPa. After a comparison analysis, we suggest that the aftershock activity level will not be high in the late period of this earthquake sequence, and the maximum magnitude of the whole aftershocks sequence is estimated to be about 6.0.     

昆仑山口西8.1级地震与我国西部地下水震后效应关系研究

对2001年11月14日昆仑山口西发生的8．1级地震,在我国西部新疆、青海、甘肃、陕西、四川和云南等六省区的地下水震后效应特征进行了分析研究,指出了地震后中国西部地区存在中期、中短期地震危险性。这是利用大范围地下水震后异常研究大区域后续地震的初步尝试。     

昆仑山口西8.1级地震前新疆定点形变异常初析

昆仑山口西 8.1级地震发生在新疆形变监测台网的东南 ,距震中 70 0— 1 2 0 0 km范围内有 6台项资料显示出地壳形变前兆异常。分析认为地壳形变异常具有一定的阶段性特征 ,中短期异常多出现在 NS向 ,8.1级地震前 2 0天 EW向出现加速或反向突变 ,临震前 4天重力仪记录到强烈的地脉动异常。这些异常的出现与 2 0 0 0— 2 0 0 1年中国西部地区 3次明显的地壳水平运动在时间上有一定的相关性。     

Source process of the 14 November 2001 western Kunlun Mountain M S=8.1 earthquake

Based on digital teleseismic P-wave seismograms recorded by 28 long-period seismograph stations of the global seismic network, source process of the November 14, 2001 western Kunlun Mountain M _S=8.1 (M _W=7.8) earthquake is estimated by a new inversion method. The result shows that the earthquake is a very complex rupture event. The source rupture initiated at the hypocenter (35.95°N, 90.54°E, focal depth 10 km, by USGS NEIC), and propagated to the west at first. Then, in several minutes to a hundred minutes and over a large spatial range, several rupture growth points emerged in succession at the eastern end and in the central part of the finite fault. And then the source rupture propagated from these rupture growth points successively and, finally, stopped in the area within 50 km to the east of the centroid position (35.80°N, 92.91°E, focal depth 15 km, by Harvard CMT). The entire rupture lasted for 142 s, and the source process could be roughly separated into three stages: The first stage started at the 0 s and ended at the 52 s, lasting for 52 s and releasing approximately 24.4% of the total moment; The second stage started at the 55 s and ended at the 113 s, lasting for 58 s and releasing approximately 56.5% of the total moment; The third stage started at the 122 s and ended at the 142 s, lasting for 20 s and releasing approximately 19.1% of the total moment. The length of the ruptured fault plane is about 490 km. The maximum width of the ruptured fault plane is about 45 km. The rupture mainly occurred within 30 km in depth under the surface of the Earth. The average static slip in the underground rocky crust is about 1.2 m with the maximum static slip 3.6 m. The average static stress drop is about 5 MPa with the maximum static stress drop 18 MPa. The maximum static slip and the maximum stress drop occurred in an area within 50 km to the east of the centroid position. Foundation item: Joint Seismological Science Foundation of China (103066) and Foundation of the Seismic Pattern and Digital Seismic Data Application Research Office of Institute of Earthquake Science of the China Earthquake Administration.     

Frequency-domain array technique analysis for the rupture duration time and geometrical characteristics of the 2001 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake

In this paper, we briefly describe the principle of tracking energy radiation sources of large earthquakes using fre- quency-domain far-field array technique, present general steps of tracking energy radiation sources, and take the 2001 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake as an example to analyze key factors for setting parameters while pro- cessing data. Using broadband waveform data from a seismic array in Ethiopia and Kenya (EK Array), we obtain that the rupture initiation point of the 2001 Kunlun Mountain Pass earthquake is located in the east of Buka Daban Peak (35.92°N, 91.70°E), and the rupture duration time is less than 160 s, the rupture length about 520 km, with 180 km in the west of the initiation point and 340 km in the east, respectively. The western segment of the earth- quake fault bends towards southwest near Buka Daban Peak, which is in concordance with the surface rupture trace. The eastern segment apparently bends towards northeast near Xidatan, which is in agreement with the strike of Xidatan fault, but 30 km away from Xidatan fault. In addition, the results imply that the western segment of the earthquake fault appears erect while the eastern segment appears to be gradually dipping southwards.