The structural position of earthquakes relative to elements of deep-seated fault tectonics and their interpretation for the Magadan shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk

This paper presents a quantitative analysis of the relationship between earthquakes and crustal tectonic fragmentation based on a correlation analysis of fault density and discordance measure with parameters of seismic activity (the specific number and specific energy of earthquakes) for the Magadan shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk. These materials revealed essential differences in the structural position of earthquakes on land and in sea. The Magadan shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk will most likely generate earthquakes of energy class K ≥ 12 in areas with lower density (0.04 < τ ≤ 0.06 km⁻¹) and lower discordance measure (2 < ‖D‖ ≤ 4) for the faults identified from gravity data. One cause of this structural and geodynamic feature in the spatial position of earthquake epicenters is, in these authors’ opinion, thermal isostasy, that is, the cooling of the lithosphere and asthenosphere as heat is released into the space around the Earth (the heat was entering the upper layers of the Earth from the mantle during the Mesozoic/Cenozoic phase of its development), resulting in seafloor subsidence. Seafloor subsidence and continental uplift produce rotational tangential forces that affect the stress buildup in the Pacific seismic belt. The annual releases of rotational energy and earthquake energy have the same order of magnitude, 10¹⁸ J/yr.