Lateral structure of the subducting pacific plate beneath the Hokkaido corner from intermediate and deep earthquakes

We present a study of the lateral structure and mode of deformation in the transition between the Kuril and Honshu subduction zones. We begin by examining the source characteristics of the January 19, 1969, intermediate depth earthquake north of Hokkaido in the framework of slab-tearing, which for the December 6, 1978 event has been well documented by previous studies. We use a least-squares body wave inversion technique, and find that its focal mechanism is comparable to the 1978 event. To understand the cause of these earthquakes, which in the case of the 1978 event occurred on a vertical tear fault but does not represent hinge faulting, we examine the available International Seismological Centre [ISC] hypocenters and Harvard centroid-moment tensor [CMT] solutions to determine the state of stress, and lateral structure and segmentation in the Kuril and northern Honshu slabs. These data are evaluated in the framework of two models. Model (A) requires the subducting slab at the Hokkaido corner to maintain surface area. Model (B) requires slab subduction to be dominated by gravity, with material subducting in the down-dip direction. The distribution of ICS hypocenters shows a gap in deep seismicity down-dip of the Hokkaido corner, supporting model (B). From the CMT data set we find that three types of earthquake focal mechanisms occur. The first (type A) represents dip-slip mechanisms consistent with down-dip tension or compression in the slab in a direction normal to the strike of the trench. These events occur throughout the Honshu and Kuril slabs with focal mechanisms beneath Hokkaido showing NNW plungingP andT axes consistent with the local slab geometry. The second (type B) occurs primarily at depths over 300 km in the southern part of the Kuril slab with a few events in the northern end of the Honshu deep seismicity. These earthquakes have focal mechanisms with P axes oriented roughly E-W, highly oblique to the direction of compression found in the type A events, with which they are spatially interspersed. The third (type C) group of earthquakes are those events which do not fit in either of the first two groups and consist of either strike-slip focal mechanisms, such as the tearing events, or oddly oriented focal mechanisms. Examination of the stress axes orientations for these three types reveals that the compressional axes of the type C events are consistent with those of type B. The slab tearing events are just differential motion reflecting the E-W compressive states of stress which is responsible for the type B family of events. There is no need to invoke down-dip extension which does not fit the slab geometry. We conclude that these two states of stress can be explained as follows: 1) The type A events and the seismicity distribution support model (B). 2) The type B and C events upport model (A). The solution is that the slab subducts according to model (B), but the flow in the mantle maintains a different trajectory, possibly induced by the plate motions, which produces the second state of E-W compressive stress.     

Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2011

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2011. During this period, 522 earthquakes and 92 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. With a total of only 10 events with M _L????2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2011 was far below the average over the previous 36?years. Most noteworthy were the earthquake sequence of Sierre (VS) in January, with two events of M _L 3.3 and 3.2, the M _L 3.3 earthquake at a depth of 31?km below Bregenz, and the M _L 3.1 event near Delémont. The two strongest events near Sierre produced shaking of intensity IV.     

Signatures of downgoing plate-buoyancy driven subduction in Cenozoic plate motions

The dynamics of plate tectonics are strongly related to those of subduction. To obtain a better understanding of the driving forces of subduction, we compare relations between Cenozoic subduction motions at major trenches with the trends expected for the simplest form of subduction. i.e., free subduction, driven solely by the buoyancy of the downgoing plate. In models with an Earth-like plate stiffness (corresponding to a plate–mantle viscosity contrast of 2–3 orders of magnitude), free plates subduct by a combination of downgoing plate motion and trench retreat, while the slab is draped and folded on top of the upper-lower mantle viscosity transition. In these models, the slabs sink according to their Stokes’ velocities. Observed downgoing-plate motion–plate-age trends are compatible with >80% of the Cenozoic slabs sinking according to their upper-mantle Stokes’ velocity, i.e., subducting-plate motion is largely driven by upper-mantle slab pull. Only in a few cases, do young plates move at velocities that require a higher driving force (possibly supplied by lower-mantle–slab induced flow). About 80% of the Cenozoic trenches retreat, with retreat accounting for about 10% of the total convergence. The few advancing trench sections are likely affected by regional factors. The low trench motions are likely encouraged by low asthenospheric drag (equivalent to that for effective asthenospheric viscosity 2–3 orders below the upper-mantle average), and low lithospheric strength (effective bending viscosity ～2 orders of magnitude above the upper-mantle average). Total Cenozoic trench motions are often very oblique to the direction of downgoing-plate motion (mean angle of 73°). This indicates that other forces than slab buoyancy exert the main control on upper-plate/trench motion. However, the component of trench retreat in the direction of downgoing plate motion (≈ slab pull) correlates with downgoing-plate motion, and this component of retreat generally does not exceed the amount expected for free buoyancy-driven subduction. High present-day slab dips (on average about 70°) are compatible with largely upper-mantle slab-pull driven subduction of relatively weak plates, where motion partitioning and slab geometry adjust to external constraints/forces on trench motion.     

Damage field and site effects: multidisciplinary studies of the 1964 earthquake series in Central Switzerland

Central Switzerland shows comparatively high seismic activity by Swiss standards. Many historical earthquakes are known and several of them caused damage. The last major event dates back to 1964 and has the characteristics of an earthquake swarm. Among dozens of felt shocks were two main shocks (Mw = 5 and 5.7) that moderately damaged a limited area with hundreds of buildings suffering loss. Our aim here was to reconstruct the damage field and to analyze whether it was influenced by site effects. Given the existence of a contemporary damage assessment and other historical sources, we could describe the damage field in detail. For about 95% of the affected buildings, we could reconstruct the location and extent of loss, using assessments from the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS 98). Spatial analysis of the resulting data showed that most losses were concentrated in the villages of Sarnen and Kerns. Damage to residential houses and barns was by far most frequent (90%), but expensive losses to the relatively few sacral buildings were responsible for almost 50% of the repair costs. We compared the damage data with deposit thickness and soil composition and carried out field experiments using H/V spectral ratios to measure the fundamental frequency of ground resonance at 75 sites to estimate the frequency band in which amplification occurs. Our results show that locations on both thick fluviatile sediments and large alluvial cones showed higher intensities than did other ground types. Moreover, at some sites, intensity was probably increased by a layer of weathered rock below thin deposits.     

Centroid-moment tensor solutions for 113 large earthquakes in 1977–1980

The Centroid-Moment Tensor technique is applied to 113 large earthquakes of the period 1977–1980, including all the shallow events with magnitude m_b, M_s or M_L 6.5. We use digital data recorded by the Global Digital Seismograph Network (GDSN) and International Deployment of Accelerometers (IDA) networks. Solutions are determined for three sequences of events close in time by inverting mantle wave data simultaneously for multiple sources.     

Considering large earthquake clustering in seismic risk analysis

Earthquakes cluster in space and time resulting in nonlinear damage effects. We compute earthquake interactions using the Coulomb stress transfer theory and dynamic vulnerability from the concept of ductility capacity reduction. We combine both processes in the generic multi-risk framework where risk scenarios are simulated using a variant of the Markov chain Monte Carlo method. We apply the proposed approach to the thrust fault system of northern Italy, considering earthquakes with characteristic magnitudes in the range ~[6, 6.5], different levels of tectonic loading \(\dot{\tau }\) = {10^?4, 10^?3, 10^?2} bar/year and a generic stock of fictitious low-rise buildings with different ductility capacities μ _Δ = {2, 4, 6}. We describe the process’ stochasticity by non-stationary Poisson earthquake probabilities and by binomial damage state probabilities. We find that earthquake clustering yields a tail fattening of the seismic risk curve, the effect of which is amplified by damage-dependent fragility due to clustering. The impact of clustering alone is in average more important than dynamic vulnerability, the spatial extent of the former phenomenon being greater than of the latter one.     

The 2014 seismic hazard model of the Middle East: overview and results

The Earthquake Model of Middle East (EMME) Project aimed to develop regional scale seismic hazard and risk models uniformly throughout a region extending from the Eastern Mediterranean in the west to the Himalayas in the east and from the Gulf of Oman in the south to the Greater Caucasus in the North; a region which has been continuously devastated by large earthquakes throughout the history. The 2014 Seismic Hazard Model of Middle East (EMME-SHM14) was developed with the contribution of several institutions from ten countries. The present paper summarizes the efforts towards building a homogeneous seismic hazard model of the region and highlights some of the main results of this model. An important aim of the project was to transparently communicate the data and methods used and to obtain reproducible results. By doing so, the use of the model and results will be accessible by a wide community, further support the mitigation of seismic risks in the region and facilitate future improvements to the seismic hazard model. To this end all data, results and methods used are made available through the web-portal of the European Facilities for Earthquake Hazard and Risk (www.efehr.org).