Seismic rupture during the 1960 Great Chile and the 2010 Maule earthquakes limited by a giant Pleistocene submarine slope failure

Determining factors that limit coseismic rupture is important to evaluate the hazard of powerful subduction zone earthquakes such as the 2011 Tohoku‐Oki event (Mw = 9.0). In 1960 (Mw = 9.5) and 2010 (Mw = 8.8), Chile was hit by such powerful earthquakes, the boundary of which was the site of a giant submarine slope failure with chaotic debris subducted to seismogenic zone depth. Here, a continuous décollement is absent, whereas away from the slope failure, a continuous décollement is seismically imaged. We infer that underthrusting of inhomogeneous slide deposits prevents the development of a décollement, and thus the formation of a thin continuous slip zone necessary for earthquake rupture propagation. Thus, coseismic rupture during the 1960 and 2010 earthquakes seems to be limited by underthrusted upper plate mass‐wasting deposits. More generally, our results suggest that upper plate dynamics and resulting surface processes can play a key role for determining rupture size of subduction zone earthquakes.     

Architecture and evolution of the Kushiro submarine canyon in the Kurile Trench forearc slope,North‐western Pacific

An air‐gun survey, conducted over a total distance of 4356 km in the western end of the Kurile Arc offshore, has revealed the architecture and evolution of the Kushiro submarine canyon and Tokachi submarine channels of the Tokachi‐oki forearc basin. The Kushiro submarine canyon, which runs along the eastern margin of the forearc basin, is characterized by an entrenchment of up to several hundred metres in depth. The Tokachi submarine channels, by contrast, occupy the centre of the basin and consist of small, branching and levéed channels. The Kushiro submarine canyon is not connected to the Tokachi River, which has the largest drainage area in eastern Hokkaido, with a catchment area of approximately 9010 km² that includes high mountains and a volcanic region. Instead, the Kushiro submarine canyon exhibits an offset connection/quasi‐connection (probably having been connected during a prior sea‐level lowstand) with the Kushiro River (drainage area of 2500 km²) which contains the Kushiro Swamp at its mouth. To understand this unusual arrangement of rivers and submarine channels, acoustic facies analysis was undertaken to establish the seismic stratigraphy of the area. Subsurface strata can be divided into six seismic units of Miocene to Recent age. Analyses of seismic facies and isopach maps indicate that: (i) the palaeo‐Kushiro submarine canyon, which was ancestral to the Kushiro submarine canyon, was an aggradational levéed channel; and (ii) the palaeo‐Tokachi submarine channel was much larger than the present‐day channel and changed its course several times. Both the palaeo‐Kushiro submarine canyon and palaeo‐Tokachi submarine channel were fed predominantly by the ancestral Tokachi River, whereas the present‐day channels are no longer connected or quasi‐connected to the Tokachi River. Entrenchment of the Kushiro submarine canyon began in its distal reaches during the Early Pleistocene and propagated landward over time, which was possibly caused by base‐level fall (i.e. subsidence of the trench floor) or uplift of the forearc basin. Entrenchment of the upper part of the Kushiro submarine canyon began during the Middle Pleistocene, which may have been related to: (i) depositional progradation; (ii) uplift of the coastal area; or (iii) a change in source area from the ancestral Tokachi River to the Kushiro River.     

Estimation of Coulomb stress changes and induced earthquake occurrences prediction in the region of Three Gorges Reservoir,China

In the region of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in China, there has been occurrence of several frequent earthquakes of moderate intensity since reservoir impounding occurred in 2003. These earthquakes are generally believed to be induced by reservoir impoundment and water-level variations. Usually, the geo-stress will change, when natural earthquakes occur. Following this principle, this paper adopted the rate and state theory to simulate and estimate Coulomb stress changes in the TGR region and obtained the pattern of Coulomb stress changes with time and the event sequence as well as the distribution of Coulomb stress changes in space. First, the TGR regional catalogue was analyzed and processed, leading to quantification of the magnitude of completeness and all of the parameters that are used in the stress–seismicity inversion process, including the reference seismicity rates, characteristic relaxation time, fault constitutive parameters, and stress rates. Second, the temporal evolution of the stress changes in different time windows was computed and analyzed, and it was found that there is an association between the Coulomb stress changes and rates of increase in the cumulative number of earthquakes. In addition, the earthquake occurred in November 2008 (M _S = 4.1) was analyzed and attempted to simulate the distribution of stress changes in space through the stress–seismicity inversion model. The results proved that the modeled area coincides with the historical area of earthquakes that occurred after 2008. Finally, a prediction was made about the earthquake productivity rates after 2015, which showed a declining earthquake rate over time that ultimately returned to the background seismicity. This result is essentially in agreement with Omori’s law. To conclude, it is rational to use the stress-inversion method to analyze the relationship between induced earthquake seismicity and local stress changes as well as to simulate the area of earthquake occurrence and productivity rates of reservoir-induced earthquakes.     

Forecasting seismicity rates in western Turkey as inferred from earthquake catalog and stressing history

The spatio-temporal variation in seismicity in western Turkey since the late 1970s is investigated through a rate/state model, which considers the stressing history to forecast the reference seismicity rate evolution. The basic catalog was divided according to specific criteria into four subsets, which correspond to areas exhibiting almost identical seismotectonic features. Completeness magnitude and reference seismicity rates are individually calculated for each subset. The forecasting periods are selected to be the inter-seismic time intervals between successive strong (M ≥ 5.8) earthquakes. The Coulomb stress changes associated with their coseismic slip are considered, along with the constant stressing rate to alter the rates of earthquake production. These rates are expressed by a probability density function and smoothed over the study area with different degrees of smoothing. The influence of the rate/state parameters in the model efficiency is explored by evaluating the Pearson linear correlation coefficient between simulated and observed earthquake occurrence rates along with its 95 % confidence limits. Application of different parameter values is attempted for the sensitivity of the calculated seismicity rates and their fit to the real data to be tested. Despite the ambiguities and the difficulties involved in the experimental parameter value determination, the results demonstrate that the present formulation and the available datasets are sufficient enough to contribute to seismic hazard assessment starting from a point such far back in time.     

Deep slab subduction and dehydration and their geodynamic consequences: Evidence from seismology and mineral physics

We present new pieces of evidence from seismology and mineral physics for the existence of low-velocity zones in the deep part of the upper mantle wedge and the mantle transition zone that are caused by fluids from the deep subduction and deep dehydration of the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs under western Pacific and East Asia. The Pacific slab is subducting beneath the Japan Islands and Japan Sea with intermediate-depth and deep earthquakes down to 600 km depth under the East Asia margin, and the slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under East China. The western edge of the stagnant Pacific slab is roughly coincident with the NE–SW Daxing'Anling-Taihangshan gravity lineament located west of Beijing, approximately 2000 km away from the Japan Trench. The upper mantle above the stagnant slab under East Asia forms a big mantle wedge (BMW). Corner flow in the BMW and deep slab dehydration may have caused asthenospheric upwelling, lithospheric thinning, continental rift systems, and intraplate volcanism in Northeast Asia. The Philippine Sea slab has subducted down to the mantle transition zone depth under Western Japan and Ryukyu back-arc, though the seismicity within the slab occurs only down to 200–300 km depths. Combining with the corner flow in the mantle wedge, deep dehydration of the subducting Pacific slab has affected the morphology of the subducting Philippine Sea slab and its seismicity under Southwest Japan. Slow anomalies are also found in the mantle under the subducting Pacific slab, which may represent small mantle plumes, or hot upwelling associated with the deep slab subduction. Slab dehydration may also take place after a continental plate subducts into the mantle.     

Change in seismic activity in the Tokai region related to weakening and strengthening of the interplate coupling

We investigate the relationship between changes in seismicity and crustal deformations in the Tokai region. We describe how seismicity in the subducted slab increased remarkably in the fall of 2000 and decreased in the fall of 2001, while in contrast, the crust seismicity decreased in the fall of 2000 and increased in the fall of 2001. We note that the trend of horizontal displacement at GPS stations changed coincidentally and we propose interpreting the increase and decrease in seismic activities and the changes in crustal deformations in a unified way based on changes in the state of the interplate coupling, i.e., the back-slip rate was reduced in the fall of 2000 and was partially restored in the fall of 2001. We explain why reduction of the back-slip rate increases seismogenic stress in the slab and decreases stress in the crust. We also describe the substantial positive dilatation observed in the region around Mt. Fuji in the fall of 2000 and suggest that the remarkable increase of low-frequency earthquakes beneath Mt. Fuji in October 2000 may have been caused by deceleration of the converging motion of the Izu micro-plate with the Eurasian plate. The decrease of the subduction velocity of the Izu micro-plate on the Suruga Trough in late 2000 would also have contributed to weakening of the interplate coupling beneath the Tokai region, since reduction of the relative velocity between overriding and subducting plates produces the same effect on the plate interface as a diminishing back-slip rate. However, subduction of the Izu micro-plate on the Suruga Trough was accelerated in early 2003, which may have caused increases in both slab and crust seismicities in that period.     

The large aftershocks triggered by the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake,Japan

The Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake that occurred off the Pacific coast of Japan on March 11, 2011, was followed by thousands of aftershocks, both near the plate interface and in the crust of inland eastern Japan. In this paper, we report on two large, shallow crustal earthquakes that occurred near the Ibaraki-Fukushima prefecture border, where the background seismicity was low prior to the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. Using densely spaced geodetic observations (GPS and InSAR datasets), we found that two large aftershocks in the Iwaki and Kita-Ibarake regions (hereafter referred to as the Iwaki earthquake and the Kita-Ibarake earthquake) produced 2.1 m and 0.44 m of motion in the line-of-sight (LOS), respectively. The azimuth-offset method was used to obtain the preliminary location of the fault traces. The InSAR-based maximum offset and trace of the faults that produced the Iwaki earthquake are consistent with field observations. The fault location and geometry of these two earthquakes are constrained by a rectangular dislocation model in a multilayered elastic half-space, which indicates that the maximum slips for the two earthquakes are 3.28 m and 0.98 m, respectively. The Coulomb stress changes were calculated for the faults following the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake based on the modeled slip along the fault planes. The resulting Coulomb stress changes indicate that the stresses on the faults increased by up to 1.1 MPa and 0.7 MPa in the Iwaki and Kita-Ibarake regions, respectively, suggesting that the Tohoku-Oki earthquake triggered the two aftershocks, supporting the results of seismic tomography.     

鄂尔多斯块体周缘地区近期地震活动性与汶川地震应力触发作用的关系

采用β统计对汶川地震前后鄂尔多斯块体周缘地区的地震活动率进行了空间扫描分析,并采用JiChen的震源破裂模型计算了汶川地震产生的库仑破裂应力变化,以研究鄂尔多斯块体周缘地区近期地震活动性与汶川地震应力触发作用的关系。结果发现,鄂尔多斯块体西南缘弧形断裂束的南东段与南缘渭河盆地的地震活动率在汶川地震后提高显著,其他区域的地震活动率没有明显提高,库仑破裂应力计算得到两个区域的应力变化范围分别为0.005～0.02 MPa和0.001～0.01 MPa,表明汶川地震有可能触发了这两个区域的地震活动。鄂尔多斯块体东缘的山西断陷带处于库仑破裂应力计算的应力增加区,应力变化范围为0～0.012 MPa,2009年3月以来发生的4次ML4.5～5.2级强有感至微破坏地震有可能被汶川地震所延迟触发。b值、地震能量释放率与空间相关距离SCL等地震活动性参数随时间变化扫描结果显示,该区域可能处于不断趋近高应力累积的状态,其未来大震有可能提前发生。西缘地区为应力减小区,其目前的地震活动处于正常水平状态。     

汶川地震的发生对周围断层稳定性影响的数值模拟

大地震发生后, 研究地震的发生对周围断层的影响尤为重要.利用川西-藏东地区三维粘弹性有限元模型,考虑地表高程和粘弹性松弛等因素的影响,研究主要断裂带库仑应力累积速率和汶川地震的发生对周围断层的影响.结果表明:(1)龙门山断裂带年累积速率为0.28×10-3~0.35×10-3 MPa/a,这种较小的累积速率与龙门山断裂带强震较长复发间隔一致;(2)汶川地震的发生除造成震源区应力减小外, 还造成断裂带北东段不同程度的应力增加, 这与震后余震的分布基本吻合;(3)鲜水河断裂北西段、东昆仑、龙日坝、岷江以及虎牙断裂库仑应力水平增加显著,且汶川地震对于玉树地震的发生有微弱的加载效应;(4)汶川地震的发生造成鲜水河断裂带强震复发间隔缩短约52~104 a,是值得关注的强震危险区.      

Coseismic Coulomb stress changes imparted by the 1996 Minahasa Mw7.9 earthquake on the 2018 Palu Mw7.5 earthquake and expected seismicity rate changes

The Mw7.5 Palu earthquake that occurred on September 28, 2018, in Indonesia caused much damage to the city of Palu. Preliminary investigations indicated that the Palu‐Koro Fault (PKF) hosted this damaging event. We calculated the seismicity before and after the 1996 Minahasa Mw7.9 earthquake and found that the seismicity on the PKF was enhanced after this earthquake. The earlier earthquake added Coulomb stress changes (?CFS) to the seismogenic fault plane. We calculated the ?CFS produced by the Palu earthquake on a specified received nodal plane; the results suggest that many aftershocks occurred in the region of increased ?CFS. This region was consistent with the region of increased seismicity. The ?CFS on neighbouring faults increased, and up to 55.282 bar of stress was observed on the PKF. Furthermore, we calculated the expected seismicity rate and found that it will require ~50 years to recover to its original level.     

Influence of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (Mw 7.9) on the occurrence probability of future earthquakes on neighboring faults

The Longquan–Shan fault and the Huya fault are two major neighboring faults of the Longmen–Shan fault zone where the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (M_w 7.9) occurred. To study the influence of the Wenchuan event on these two active faults, we calculate changes of Coulomb stress on the Longquan–Shan fault and the Huya fault caused by the Wenchuan mainshock. Our results indicate that the Coulomb stress in the northern section (Zone A) of the Longquan–Shan fault is increased by 0.07–0.10 bars, that in the middle section (Zone B) by 0.04–0.11 bars, and that in the southern section (Zone C) shows almost no change. For the Huya fault, the Coulomb stress is decreased by 0.01–0.03 bars in the northern section (Zone A), 0.10–0.35 bars in the middle section (Zone B), and nearly 0.5 bars in the southern section (Zone C). The epicenter distribution of small earthquakes (M_L ⩾ 1.5) on the Longquan–Shan fault and the Huya fault after the Wenchuan earthquake is consistent with the distribution of the Coulomb stress change. This implies that the Wenchuan earthquake may have triggered small events on the Longquan–Shan fault, but inhibited those on the Huya fault. We then use the rate/state friction law to calculate the occurrence probability of future earthquakes in the study region for the next decade. They include the distribution of b-values, magnitude of completeness (M_c), the background seismicity rate, a value of Aσ_n and the duration for the transient effect (t_a) in the study region. We also estimate the earthquake occurrence probabilities on the neighboring faults after the Wenchuan earthquake. Our results show that, the occurrence probability of future earthquakes in the Longquan–Shan has a slight increase, being 7% for M ⩾ 5.0 shocks during the next decade, but the earthquake probability in the Huya region is reduced obviously, being 5–20%, 7–26% and 3–9% for M ⩾ 5.0 shocks during the next decade in sections A, B and C of the Huya fault, respectively.     

Tomographic imaging of hydrated crust and mantle in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido,Japan: Evidence for dehydration embrittlement as a cause of intraslab earthquakes

We estimate detailed three-dimensional seismic velocity structures in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido, Japan, using a large number of arrival-time data from 6902 local earthquakes. A remarkable low-velocity layer with a thickness of ~ 10 km is imaged at the uppermost part of the slab and is interpreted as hydrated oceanic crust. The layer gradually disappears at depths of 70–80 km, suggesting the breakdown of hydrous minerals there. We find prominent low-velocity anomalies along the lower plane of the double seismic zone and above the aftershock area of the 1993 Kushiro-oki earthquake (M7.8). Since seismic velocities of unmetamorphosed peridotite are much higher than the observations, hydrous minerals are expected to exist in the lower plane as well as the hypocentral area of the 1993 earthquake. On the other hand, regions between the upper and lower planes, where seismic activity is not so high compared to the both planes, show relatively high velocities comparable to those of unmetamorphosed peridotite. Our observations suggest that intermediate-depth earthquakes occur mainly in regions with hydrous minerals, which support dehydration embrittlement hypothesis as a cause of earthquake in the subducting slab.     

Slab break‐off – abrupt cut or gradual detachment? New insights from the Vrancea Region (SE Carpathians,Romania)

Slab break-off is a plate-tectonic process which does not only return lithospheric material into the deeper mantle, but also has severe effects on surface movements and seismic hazard: slab-pull induced seismicity is reduced when the subducted slab decouples from the overlying crust. In the Vrancea region (SE Carpathians), strong earthquakes frequently occur at intermediate depths (70–180 km) in a laterally small volume, while the crust shows low but distributed seismicity. The stress pattern shows similar partitioning with vertical extension in the slab and no preferred orientation in the overlying crust. Both features indicate a decoupling between slab and overlying crust, either by slab break-off or delamination. However, the strong vertical elongation of the slab requires that the upper end of the slab is fixed vertically. Thus, a 'soft' coupling is assumed that is strong enough to enable elongation of the slab, but weak enough to inhibit 'quasi-static' stress transfer to the overlying crust.     

Climate and vegetation in Hokkaido, northern Japan, since the LGM: Pollen records from core GH02-1030 off Tokachi in the northwestern Pacific

Vegetation and climate since the LGM in eastern Hokkaido were investigated based on a pollen record from marine core GH02-1030 from off Tokachi in the northwestern Pacific. We also examined pollen spectra in surface samples from Sakhalin to compare and understand the climatic conditions of Hokkaido during the last glacial period. Vegetation in the Tokachi region in the LGM (22–17 ka) was an open boreal forest dominated by Picea and Larix. During the last deglaciation (17–10 ka), vegetation was characterized by abundant Betula. In the Kenbuchi Basin, central Hokkaido, a remarkable increase of Larix and Pinus occurred in the LGM and the last deglaciation, which was assigned as the “Kenbuchi Stadial.” Comparison of climatic data between the core GH02-1030 and that of Kenbuchi Basin demonstrates that variations in temperature and precipitation were larger in inland Hokkaido than in the maritime area of the Pacific coast. During the LGM in the Tokachi region, the August mean temperature was about 5 °C lower, and annual precipitation was about 40% lower than today. In the Kenbuchi Basin, central Hokkaido, the August mean temperature was about 8 °C lower, and annual precipitation was half that of today. During the last deglaciation, August mean temperatures were about 3 °C lower, and annual precipitation was about 30% lower than today in the Tokachi region. In the Kenbuchi Basin, August mean temperatures were about 5–8 °C lower, and annual precipitation was about 40–60% lower than today. Cold ocean water and a strengthened summer monsoon after 15 ka may have resulted in the formation of advection fogs, reduced summer temperatures, and a decrease in the seasonal temperature difference in the Tokachi district, which established favorable maritime conditions for Betula forests.     

两次于田M_S7.3地震间应力触发作用及2014年于田地震的发生对周缘断层的影响

基于青藏高原及邻区的三维粘弹性有限元模型,讨论2008年于田MS7.3级地震与2014年于田MS7.3级地震之间的关系,并研究2014年于田MS7.3级地震的发生造成周围断层的库仑破裂应力变化。初步结果表明:1)2008年于田MS7.3级地震在2014年于田MS7.3级地震震中滑动方向上产生的库仑破裂应力变化高于地震触发的阈值0.01 MPa,存在明显的触发作用。在视摩擦系数分别取0.4和0.6时,震源区同震库仑破裂应力变化为0.0167 MPa和0.0170 MPa;而考虑粘弹性松弛作用时产生的库仑应力增加量分别为0.0187 MPa和0.0194 MPa。结合断裂带构造应力年累计速率的结果,2008年于田地震的发生造成2014年于田地震提前21.4~24.9 a;2)在较短的时间尺度内,对于距离相近的两次地震之间,同震产生的应力变化远大于粘弹性松弛效应产生的变化;3)2014年于田MS7.3级地震的发生造成阿尔金断裂中北段、玛尼—玉树断裂中段、东昆仑断裂西段、柴达木北缘断裂东段、西秦岭北缘断裂西段等不同程度的加载效应,地震危险性有所增强。其中阿尔金断裂中段库仑应力增加最为明显,最大达2.8×10–3 MPa;玛尼—玉树断裂中段次之,应力增加量最大达5.6×10–4 MPa;东昆仑断裂西段应力增加量最大达4.75×10–4 MPa。而玛尼—玉树断裂西段库仑破裂应力最大卸载量达3.6×10–3 MPa。     

Deep slab subduction and dehydration and their geodynamic consequences: Evidence from seismology and mineral physics

We present new pieces of evidence from seismology and mineral physics for the existence of low-velocity zones in the deep part of the upper mantle wedge and the mantle transition zone that are caused by fluids from the deep subduction and deep dehydration of the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs under western Pacific and East Asia. The Pacific slab is subducting beneath the Japan Islands and Japan Sea with intermediate-depth and deep earthquakes down to 600 km depth under the East Asia margin, and the slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under East China. The western edge of the stagnant Pacific slab is roughly coincident with the NE–SW Daxing'Anling-Taihangshan gravity lineament located west of Beijing, approximately 2000 km away from the Japan Trench. The upper mantle above the stagnant slab under East Asia forms a big mantle wedge (BMW). Corner flow in the BMW and deep slab dehydration may have caused asthenospheric upwelling, lithospheric thinning, continental rift systems, and intraplate volcanism in Northeast Asia. The Philippine Sea slab has subducted down to the mantle transition zone depth under Western Japan and Ryukyu back-arc, though the seismicity within the slab occurs only down to 200–300 km depths. Combining with the corner flow in the mantle wedge, deep dehydration of the subducting Pacific slab has affected the morphology of the subducting Philippine Sea slab and its seismicity under Southwest Japan. Slow anomalies are also found in the mantle under the subducting Pacific slab, which may represent small mantle plumes, or hot upwelling associated with the deep slab subduction. Slab dehydration may also take place after a continental plate subducts into the mantle.     

Tomographic imaging of hydrated crust and mantle in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido, Japan: Evidence for dehydration embrittlement as a cause of intraslab earthquakes

We estimate detailed three-dimensional seismic velocity structures in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido, Japan, using a large number of arrival-time data from 6902 local earthquakes. A remarkable low-velocity layer with a thickness of ~ 10 km is imaged at the uppermost part of the slab and is interpreted as hydrated oceanic crust. The layer gradually disappears at depths of 70–80 km, suggesting the breakdown of hydrous minerals there. We find prominent low-velocity anomalies along the lower plane of the double seismic zone and above the aftershock area of the 1993 Kushiro-oki earthquake (M7.8). Since seismic velocities of unmetamorphosed peridotite are much higher than the observations, hydrous minerals are expected to exist in the lower plane as well as the hypocentral area of the 1993 earthquake. On the other hand, regions between the upper and lower planes, where seismic activity is not so high compared to the both planes, show relatively high velocities comparable to those of unmetamorphosed peridotite. Our observations suggest that intermediate-depth earthquakes occur mainly in regions with hydrous minerals, which support dehydration embrittlement hypothesis as a cause of earthquake in the subducting slab.     

Triggered seismicity in the Andean arc region via static stress variation by the MW = 8.8, February 27, 2010, Maule earthquake

We localized crustal earthquakes in the Andean arc, between 35°S and 36°S, from December 2009 to May 2010. This research shows a seismicity increase, in a narrow longitudinal area, of more than nine times after the great M_w 8.8 Maule earthquake.The localized seismicity defines an area of ∼80 km long and ∼18 km wide and NNW to NNE trend. The M_d magnitudes varied from 0.7 to 3.1 except for two earthquakes with M_w of 3.9 and 4.5, located in the northern end of the area. The focal mechanisms for these two last events were normal/strike-slip and strike-slip respectively.During 2011, a network of 13 temporary stations was installed in the trasarc region in Malargüe, Argentina. Sixty earthquakes were localized in the study region during an 8 month period.We explored how changes in Coulomb conditions associated with the mega-thrust earthquake triggered subsequent upper-plate events in the arc region. We assumed the major proposed structures as receiver faults and used previously published earthquake source parameters and slip distribution for the Maule quake. The largest contribution to static stress change, up to 5 bars, derives from unclamping resulting consistent with co-seismic dilatational deformation inferred from GPS observations in the region and subsidence in nearby volcanoes caused by magma migration.Three different Quaternary tectonic settings–extensional, strike-slip and compressional-have been proposed for the arc region at these latitudes. We found that the unclamping produced by the Maule quake could temporarily change the local regime to normal/strike-slip, or at least it would favor the activation of Quaternary NNE to N-trending dextral strike-slip faults with dextral transtensional movement.     

Seismic behavior in central Taiwan: Response to stress evolution following the 1999 Mw 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake

Following the 1999 M_w 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake, a large amount of seismicity occurred in the Nantou region of central Taiwan. Among the seismic activities, eight M_w ⩾ 5.8 earthquakes took place following the Chi-Chi earthquake, whereas only four earthquakes with comparable magnitudes took place from 1900 to 1998. Since the seismicity rate during the Chi-Chi postseismic period has never returned to the background level, such seismicity activation cannot simply be attributed to modified Omori’s Law decay. In this work, we attempted to associate seismic activities with stress evolution. Based on our work, it appears that the spatial distribution of the consequent seismicity can be associated with increasing coseismic stress. On the contrary, the stress changes imparted by the afterslip; lower crust–upper mantle viscoelastic relaxation; and sequent events resulted in a stress drop in most of the study region. Understanding seismogenic mechanisms in terms of stress evolution would be beneficial to seismic hazard mitigation.     

The Deep Seismicity of the Tyrrhenian Sea*

The deep seismicity of the Tyrrhenian Sea is analysed using data from a new instrumental catalogue of the seismicity of the Italian area. We use algorithms for the determination of absolute and relative hypocentral locations and for the evaluation of the geometry and coherence of the state of stress within the subducting slab. The structure of the Benioff zone, although simpler than previously indicated, reveals anomalous traits both in the seismicity distribution and in the stress geometry, confirming that standard subduction models cannot be applied in the Tyrrhenian region. The velocity anomaly and the location of few isolated events indicate that the subducted slabs extend to the north along the Apenninic chain approximately to the latitude of the Irpinia region, in Central Italy (? 42°N).