No abstract

Groundwater usage in the Indo‐Gangetic plains exceeds replenishment of aquifers, leading to substantial reduction in the mass. Such anthropogenic crustal unloading may promote long‐term fault slip or may modulate seismic activity in the adjoining Himalayan region. Our simulation using Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment data and hydrological models of such a process indicates that the thrust earthquakes on the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), including the recent 25 April 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake, are probably influenced by the anthropogenic groundwater unloading process in the Gangetic plains. The groundwater withdrawal leading to crustal unloading in the Gangetic plains causes a significant component of horizontal compression which adds to the secular interseimic compression at the seismogenic depth (5–20 km) on the MHT beneath the Himalayan arc and at hypocentral depth of the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake. This effect enhances the Coulomb stress on the locked zone of MHT.

The interaction between seasonally-induced non-tectonic and tectonic deformation along the Himalayan plate boundary remains debated. Here, we propose that tectonic deformation along this plate boundary can be significantly influenced by the deformation induced by the non-tectonic hydrological loading cycles. We explore seasonal mass oscillations by continental water storage in Southeast Asia and Himalayan arc region using continuous Global Positioning System measurements and satellite data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment. We suggest that the substantially higher transient displacements above the base of the seismogenic zone indicate a role of changes in aseismic slip rate on the deep megathrust that may be controlled by seasonal hydrological loading. We invoke modulation of aseismic slip on the megathrust down-dip of the seismogenic zone due to a fault resonance process induced by the seasonal stress changes. This process modulates mid-crustal ramp associated micro-seismicity and influences the timing of Central Himalayan earthquakes.

No abstract

No abstract