Study on Stress Triggering During the Activity Process of the Jiashi Strong Earthquake Swarm

The Bachu-Jiashi earthquake of Ms6.8 occurred on February 24, 2003, about 20km from the southeast of the 1997 - 1998 Jiashi seismic region in Xinjiang, and its aftershocks are rich and strong. Did the 1997 - 1998 Jiashi strong earthquake swarm trigger the Bachu-Jiashi Ms6.8 earthquake？ The Atushi earthquake of Ms6.7 occurred in 1996, and the 1997 - 1998 Jiashi strong earthquake swarm occurred about 70km from the Atushi earthquake 10 months later. Did the Atushi earthquake of Ms6.7 encourage the 1997 - 1998 Jiashi strong earthquake swarm？ There were 9 earthquakes with Ms6.0 from 1996 to 1997 in the Jiashi seismic region, how did they act on each other？ To answer the above questions, the article studies the triggering effect of the activity process of the whole Jiashi earthquake swarm from the 1996 Atushi earthquake of Ms6.7, the 1997 - 1998 Jiashi strong swarm to the 2003 Bachu-Jiashi earthquake of Ms6.8, and analyzes the seismicity characteristics around the Jiashi region. The results show that the 1996 Atushi earthquake of Ms6.7 encouraged the 1997 - 1998 Jiashi strong swarm to some extent, the accumulative Coulomb stress change from the previous M6.0 earthquakes of the Jiashi strong swarm had certain triggering effects on the following M6.0 events, and the Coulomb stress change converted from the Jiashi strong swarm strongly encouraged the 2003 Bachu-Jiashi earthquake with Ms6.8.     

Fracture Characters and Seismogenic Fault of the Yajiang Earthquake Sequence with Ms6.0 in Sichuan in 2001

The Yajiang earthquake sequence in 2001, with the major events of Ms5.1 on Feb. 14 and of Ms6.0 on Feb.23, are significant events in the Sichuan region during the last 13 years. Eighty-eight earthquakes in the sequence with at least 5 distinct onset parameters for each recorded by the Sichuan Seismic Network in the period of Jan. 1 through June 30,2001 were chosen for this study. The events are relocated and the focal mechanism is derived from P-wave onsets for 13 events with relatively larger magnitudes. The focal depth of all earthquakes fall between a range of 2km to 16km, with dominant distribution between 9km to 11km. Theforeshocks, the Ms5.1 earthquake and the Ms6.0 earthquake and their aftershocks are all located close to the Zihe fault and the dominant epicentral distribution is in NW direction, identical to that of the fault. The fracture surface of the focal mechanism is determined in accordance to the mass transfer orientation in the recent earth deformation field in the Yajiang region. The P axes of the principal compressive stress in focal mechanism solutions of the 13 events show bigger vertical components, and the horizontal projection trending SE. The earthquakes are of left-lateral, strike-slip normal, and normal strike-slip types. The rupture surface of most earthquakes strike NW-SE, dipping SW. Based on the above information, we conclude that the Zihe fault that crosses the earthquake area, striking NW and dipping SW, is the seismogenic fault for the Yajiang earthquake sequence.     

Using Long-Period Body Wave to Inverse Moment Tensors of the M_S6.8 Jiashi,Xinjiang Earthquake in 2003 and the Moderate and Small Earthquakes before and after It

An Ms6.8 strong earthquake took place in Jiashi, Xinjiang on February 24 of 2003. The digital wave form data recorded in Kashi and Wushi stations are selected to inverse the moment tensor solutions for the strong earthquake and the moderate and small earthquakes before and after it （ 108 earthquakes in 2001 - 2004）. 67 focal mechanism solutions have been calculated, and the results agree with those from Harvard University and USGS. The analysis reveals that before the strong earthquake, the moderate and small earthquake distribution was dispersed, and after the event the distribution was mainly concentrated around the strong earthquake. Before the strong earthquake, the seismic faults of the mid and small events had the character of strike-slip and normal faulting, and after the event, they exhibit strike-slip and thrust faulting. The region is dominated by near-NS horizontal compression from the southern block after the strong earthquake.     

Complete Coulomb stress changes induced by the Ms7.6 earthquake in Lancang-Gengma,Yunnan and triggering of aftershocks by dynamic and static stress

The spatiotemporal evolution patterns of complete Coulomb stress changes caused by 1988 Ms7.6 earthquake in Lancang-Gengma,Yunnan,are calculated and studied.And the triggering problems of Ms7.2 Gengma shock occurring 13 minutes after the main shock and of Ms5.0―6.9 aftershocks within 24 days after the main shock are discussed.The results show that the spatial distribution patterns of complete Coulomb stress changes of the Ms7.6 main shock are strongly asymmetric.The areas of positive dynamic and static Coulomb stress are both coincident well with the strong aftershocks' locations.The Ms7.2 Gengma shock and most of strong aftershocks are subjected to the triggering effect of dynamic and static Coulomb stresses induced by the Ms7.6 Lancang earthquake.     

Earthquake Monitoring and Study in the Jingpohu Volcano Cluster Area

Seismicity in the Jingpohu volcanic area was investigated based on the seismic data recorded by the mobile seismic network consisting of 14 stations equipped with 24-bit broad-band 3- component seismographs around Crater Forest, Results show that there appears certain seismicity in Jingpohu and its adjacent areas with a low activity level and most of the recorded earthquakes are the volcanic-tectonic ones, The results of location indicate a dominant focal depth of 10km - 30kin, most of the earthquakes are smaller than ML2,0, and are concentrated in the area of ＂ Crater Forest＂ and on the Dunhua-Mishan fault which runs through the volcanic area. At station No. 2, which has better observation conditions, two types of events, likely associated to volcanism, were recorded; their waveform characteristics are somewhat similar to that of the long-period volcanic event and the volcanic tremor, but with different feature of frequencies.     

Group Strong Earthquakes and Triggering by Tidal Stress

The results obtained using the group model of earthquakes generated in tectonic blocks are fur ther used in this paper to analyze the relationship between the Ms ≥ 7.0 events in Chinese ma inland and the modulation and triggering from the earth tides. The research shows that the Ms 7.0 events in Chinese mainland have been significantly triggered by the tidal stress, especially within the active period with group strong earthquakes. In the quiescence period of strong earthquakes, no Ms7.0 events were triggered, while within the active period, over 82.4% of strong earthquakes took place within a special moon phase, which is 36.4 % higher than the average. Therefore, the modulation and triggering of tidal stress can be used to distinguish the active periods and to forecast the time of the strong earthquakes within the active period. The relationship between the tidal triggering and the tectonic dynamic condition is investigated and the mechanism of the modulation is simulated with the group model of earthquakes generated in tectonic blocks.     

新疆于田两次7.3级地震之后南北地震带Benioff应变比分布特征研究

In view of the correlation between tectonic activity and seismicity, the strong earthquake risk in the North-South Seismic Belt aroused wide concern after the 2014 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake. Using the seismic catalog of the China Earthquake Networks Center, the Benioff strain ratio in the North-South Seismic Belt is calculated in 30 days before and after the March 21, 2008 and February 12, 2014 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquakes. Results show that in a year after the 2008 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake, M 〉 5. 0 earthquakes all occurred near the high strain ratio area or the junction between the low and high strain ratio areas, the activity of strong earthquakes obviously coincides with the high strain ratio area, which indicates that these areas have a higher stress level. The Yutian earthquakes promoted the release of small earthquakes in the high stress areas. This research is of certain indicating significance to the study of subsequent strong earthquakes of this region.     

两种地震预警定位方法的比较

In this paper, according to the Fujian Seismic Network earthquake catalog records, the Tnow method and the Four Stations Continuous Location method （hereinafter called FSCL） put forward by Jin Xing are inspected by using P-wave arrival information of the first four stations of each seismic event. Results show that for earthquakes within the network, both methods can obtain similar location results and location deviations are small for the majority of the events. For earthquakes outside the network, the location deviation may be amplified as the epicentral distance increases, owing to the seismic station distribution which spread toward the side of the epicenter and the small opening angle between seismic stations used for locating and epicenter. For the FSCL method, the impacts of the wave velocity on the location results may be significant for earthquakes outside the network. Thus, selecting a velocity model which is similar to the actual structure of the wave velocity will contribute to improving location results of earthquakes. The FSCL method can locate more seismic events than the Tnow method. It concludes that the Tnow method makes use of mistake information from some non-triggering stations in earthquake catalog, and some P-wave arrivals are not included in the earthquake catalog due to discontinuous records or unclear records of the seismic phase, which induces incorrect location.     

Scaling of Reduced Energy or Apparent Stress and Its Seismological Significance

Comparison between the NEIC broadband radiated energy catalogue and the Harvard CMT catalogue provides information about apparent stres.In spite of its significant uncertainties and limited relability, the clues obtained from this comparison seem interestiin in the physics of earthquakes.Scaling of apparent stress provides information about the dynamic friction along an earthquake fault.Relation between reduced energy and seismic moment implies that for strike-slip earthquakes,velocity-dependent friction plays a predominant role,while for non-strike-slip earthquakes,slip-dependent friction is predominant.It is also found that strike-slip events with extremely low apparent stress tend to occur“in single”,which is applied to the prediction of the seismic tendency following the 2001 Qinghai-Xizang(Tibet) borderMW7.8 earthquake.     

Retrospection on the Conclusions of Earthquake Tendency Forecast before the Wenchuan M_S8.0 Earthquake

The reason for the failure to forecast the Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake is under study, based on the systematically collection of the seismicity anomalies and their analysis results from annual earthquake tendency forecasts between the 2001 Western Kunlun Mountains Pass M_S8.1 earthquake and the 2008 Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake. The results show that the earthquake tendency estimation of Chinese Mainland is for strong earthquakes to occur in the active stage, and that there is still potential for the occurrence of a M_S8.0 large earthquake in Chinese Mainland after the 2001 Western Kunlun Mountains Pass earthquake. However the phenomena that many large earthquakes occurred around Chinese Mainland, and the 6-year long quietude of M_S7.0 earthquake and an obvious quietude of M_S5.0 and M_S6.0 earthquakes during 2002～2007 led to the distinctly lower forecast estimation of earthquake tendency in Chinese Mainland after 2006. The middle part in the north-south seismic belt has been designated a seismic risk area of strong earthquake in recent years, but, the estimation of the risk degree in Southwestern China is insufficient after the Ning’er M_S6.4 earthquake in Yunnan in 2007. There are no records of earthquakes with M_S≥7.0 in the Longmenshan fault, which is one of reasons that this fault was not considered a seismic risk area of strong earthquakes in recent years.     

2014年2月12日新疆于田MS7.3地震前地震活动特征分析

This paper introduces the geological structure background around the 2014 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake area, investigates and analyzes the regime of small earthquake activity and the characteristics of regional seismicity pattern in Xinjiang before the earthquake, and compares the characteristics of the regional seismic activity with the 2008 Yutian Ms7.3 earthquake. The results show： ① 2 ~ 3 years before the 2014 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake, Xinjiang was in a seismic active state with strong earthquake occurring successively, and before the 2008 Ms 7. 3 earthquake, Xinjiang was in the quiet state of moderate-small earthquakes with M3. 0 ~ 4. 0. ② Before this Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake, the regional seismic activity showed a short-term anomaly feature, that is, seismicity of M ≥ 5. 0 earthquakes significantly increased on the Altun seismic zone and in the source area three years before the Ms7.3 earthquake, while a five year long quiescence of seismicity of M ≥4. 0 earthquakes appeared on the east of the source area in a range of about 440kin. Six months before this M7. 3 earthquake, there existed seismic gap of M3. 0 ~ 4. 0 earthquakes and near-conjugate seismic belt magnitude 3. 0 and 4. 0 in the source area. ③ The state of strong earthquake activity and the seismicity pattern of small earthquakes before this Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake were significantly different to that before the 2008 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake, and this may be related to the different seismogenic environments of the two Ms7. 3 earthquakes.     

2014年于田MS7.3地震产生的静态库仑应力变化及对周边断层的影响

This paper calculates the static Coulomb stress changes generated by four earthquakes in the Yutian area during 2008 ~ 2014 separately, then discusses the triggering influence, their accumulated Coulomb stress changes and their influence on nearby faults. The results indicate that the Ms5. 5 earthquake in 2011 and the Ms7. 3 earthquake in 2014 are both in the regions where the Coulomb stress change is positive, the stress changes are 0. 004MPa and 0. 021MPa, respectively, meaning they are triggered by prior earthquakes. The Ms6. 2 earthquake in 2012 occurred in the place where Coulomb stress change was negative, so it is postponed by the prior earthquakes. The image of Coulomb stress changes of the Ms 7. 3 earthquake in 2014 is in accord with aftershocks （ML ≥ 3. 0 ） distribution, but some regions on the fault where the Coulomb stress change is positive have few aftershocks, and strong aftershocks may occur at these districts in future. In addition, this paper calculates the Coulomb stress change on nearby faults, and finds that the Coulomb stress changes of different elements in the GGC fault are very different, and must receive strong triggered-influence, though the result may be influenced by the input finite fault model, so there is still a large earthquake-risk. The GGN, PLC, PLW and LBW faults were also triggered by the four earthquakes occurring between 2008 ~ 2014. Their maximum Coulomb stress changes all exceed 0. 002MPa, so they also have a strong earthquake hazard.     

福建仙游地震序列的震源机制解

1,209 earthquakes occurred in Xianyou, Fujian from August 4, 2010 to October 4, 2013. The largest earthquake was ML5.0 on September 4, 2013. In order to study the Xianyou earthquake sequence and understand the causative structure and stress field of Xianyou, the focal mechanism solutions of six earthquakes （ ML 〉 3. 5 ） in the Xianyou earthquake sequence are calculated using the broadband digital data of the Fujian Seismic Network with the seismic moment tensor inverse method. The results show that the focal faults of the six earthquakes are similar, which are all strike-slip faults striking to the northwest with high dip angles. The direction of the principal compressive stress axes is near SN, which is different from the stress field of Fujian region. The Xianyou earthquake sequence may have been induced by the stress adjustment after the impoundment of Jinzhong reservoir.     

Study on the Genesis of the Yongsheng Earthquake with Ms6.0 on October 27, 2001

On October 27, 2001, a large earthquake with Ms6.0, named the Yongsheng earthquake, occurred along the Jinshajiang segment of Chenghai fault in Yongsheng County, Yuunan Province. It is the largest event to occur along the Chenghai fault in the last 200 years. The seismo-geological survey shows that the seismogenic fault, which is the Jinshajiang segment of Chenghal fault, takes left-lateral strike-slip as its dominant movement pattern. According to differences in vertical motion, motion time, landforms and scales, the Chenhai fault can be divided into eight segments. The Jinshajiang segment has a vertical dislocation rate of 0.4mm/a, far lower than the mean rate of the Chenghai fault, about 2.0 mm/a. It‘ s deduced that the two sides of Jinshajiang segment “stuck“ tightly and hindered the strike-slip of the Chenghai fault. The strong earthquake distribution before this event shows that the Jinshajiang segment was in the seismic gap. The Chenghai fault, as a boundary of tectonic sub-blocks, makes the Northwest Yunnan block and the Middle Yunnan block move clockwise, and their margins move oppositely along the Chenghai fault. In the motion process of the Chenghai fault, structural hindrance and the seismic gap of strong earthquakes are propitious to the concentration and accumulation of structure stress. As a result, the Yongsheng Ms6.0 earthquake occurred. The Sujiazhuang-Shangangfu segment is similar to the Jinshajiang segment with a low vertical motion rate of 0.3 mm/a and in the seismic gap. So it‘s postulated that the segment may become a new structure hindrance, and the Yongsheng Ms6.0 earthquake may trigger the occurrence of future large earthquakes along this segment.     

Visco-elastic stress triggering model of Tangshan earthquake sequence

We calculated the Coulomb failure stress change generated by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake that is projected onto the fault planes and slip directions of large subsequent aftershocks.Results of previous studies on the seismic fail-ure distribution,crustal velocity and viscosity structures of the Tangshan earthquake are used as model constraints.Effects of the local pore fluid pressure and impact of soft medium near the fault are also considered.Our result shows that the subsequent Luanxian and Ninghe earthquakes occurred in the regions with a positive Coulomb fail-ure stress produced by the Tangshan earthquake.To study the triggering effect of the Tangshan,Luanxian,and Ninghe earthquakes on the follow-up small earthquakes,we first evaluate the possible focal mechanisms of small earthquakes according to the regional stress field and co-seismic slip distributions derived from previous studies,assuming the amplitude of regional tectonic stress as 10 MPa.By projecting the stress changes generated by the above three earthquakes onto the possible fault planes and slip directions of small earthquakes,we find that the "butterfly" distribution pattern of increased Coulomb failure stress is consistent with the spatial distribution of follow-up earthquakes,and 95% of the aftershocks occurred in regions where Coulomb failure stresses increase,indicating that the former large earthquakes modulated occurrences of follow-up earthquakes in the Tangshan earthquake sequence.This result has some significance in rapid assessment of aftershock hazard after a large earthquake.If detailed failure distribution,seismogenic fault in the focal area and their slip features can be rapidly determined after a large earthquake,our algorithm can be used to predict the locations of large aftershocks.     

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%.     

On Shear-wave Splitting in Tangshan Region

Shear-wave splitting in Tangshan region is studied by using digital seismic data.Analyzing 3-component digital seismic data in Tangshan strong ground motion array,it is found that almost all earthquakes occurred during 1982 to 1984 have significant shear-wave splitting.The polarization directions of faster shear waves in 7 stations are near EW,which are consistent with the axis of maximum principal compressive stress obtained from earthquake fault mechanisms and geodetic surveys.The crack densities of the 7 stations are roughly estimated,0.019 for TS01,TS02 and TS15,0.015 for TS03,TS07 and TS18 and 0.024 for TS19,by using the average time delay of slow shear-wave at the 7 stations.     

A study on the temporal and spatial characteristics of droughts following earthquakes

According to the ＂jacking-up＂ theory, which relates the cause of earthquakes to outer core convection ascension bodies, the crust will gradually recover after an earthquake. In such cases, the crust is stretched, the underground temperature is reduced, precipitation decreases, and drought occurs. In this paper, precipitation is compared with ground temperature and seismic data to determine the spatial and temporal relationship between earthquakes and subsequent droughts. Our objective is to develop a new method of drought prediction. With a few exceptions in location, the analysis of the first drought to occur after the Ms 〉 7 earthquakes in mainland China and the adjacent areas since 1950 shows that droughts tended to occur in regions near earthquake epicenters and in the eastern regions of the epicenters at the same latitude within six months after the earthquakes. In addition, and the differences between the starting time of the earthquakes and the droughts nearly share the same probability of 0 to 6 months. After careful analysis of 34 Ms 〉 6.5 earthquakes occurring in western China from 1980 to 2011, we determined that a second drought tends to occur approximately six months following the first drought, indicating a quasi-half-year period. Moreover, the duration of the quasi-half-year fluctuation increases with the magnitude of earthquake, at approximately 2.5 years for Ms 6.5 earthquake and approximately 5 years for Ms 8 earthquake.     

Stress interactions between normal faults and adjacent strike-slip faults of 1997 Jiashi earthquake swarm

During a 4-month period starting from 21 January, 1997, an earthquake swarm of seven major events (Ms≥6.0) struck the Jiashi region at the northwestern corner of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang,, China. Previous relocation studies suggested that these strong earthquakes had occurred along at least two parallel rupture zones. According to the relocated hypocenters and focal mechanisms of the events, we have constructed fault models for these seven earthquakes to calculate the Coulomb stress changes produced by each of these events. Furthermore, we extended our model calculations to include an ad- jacent 1996 Ms=6.9 Artushi earthquake, which occurred one year before the Jiashi earthquake swarm. Our calculations show that the Coulomb stress change caused by the preceding events was around 0.05 MPa at the hypocenter of the 4th event, and higher than 0.08 MPa at the hypocenters of the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th events. Our results reveal a Coulomb stress interactive cycle of earthquake triggering between two adjacent normal and strike-slip faults.     

Seismological Approaches to Earthquake Prediction

Seismological approaches used in earthquake prediction involve many subjects. To predict large earthquakes from small to moderate foreshocks has a clear meaning in physics. Some of the main methods of earthquake prediction used in China are outlined in this paper. According to the anomalies used for earthquake prediction, seismological approaches can be divided into two groups: those that use the anomalies in seismic patterns, including the increase and decrease in regional seismicity, the appearance of seismic gaps, seismic belts, seismic swarms, and foreshocks and those that use anomalies in special values and in seismic waves, such as the anomalies in b values and f values, in the Vp/VS ratio, Q values, stress drop, and shear stress.